A new study shows the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 10 to 17 under justice supervision fell between 2014 and 15 and 2018 and 19, from 176 to 172 per 10,000.
The rate for non-Indigenous young people over the same period fell from 12 to 11 per 10,000, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report said.
The report also showed youths from the lowest socioeconomic areas accounted for 35 per cent under justice supervision last financial year, compared with six per cent from the highest socioeconomic areas.
Young males were four times more likely to be under supervision than young females, whose most common age was 16 compared to 17 for males.
One in five were in detention unsentenced, awaiting the outcome of their charges, with the remainder under community-based supervision such as home detention, bail, parole and probation.
Positive signs
AIHW spokeswoman Anna Ritson told SBS News it was hoped the decline in young people in the justice system would continue.
"When these rates fall, particularly for our Indigenous population, it is always welcome news. And I think it does reflect, hopefully, an ongoing trend that we will see in years to come," she said.
The reasons for the fall are many and varied, but Ms Ritson says states and territories - the primary gatekeepers of the justice system in Australia - are seeing reward for several targeted policy areas related to the cause.
“It's a reflection that jurisdictions are offering alternatives to the youth justice supervision system. And there's been policy developments in areas such as a child protection, accommodation and housing, family and community services, and those could also contribute to a fall in the rate of Indigenous supervision,” she said.
The Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory (AAP) Source: AAP
“The states and territories are all committed to reducing the number of Indigenous youth who are under supervision, and most states have Indigenous-specific and culturally-appropriate programs and policies in place to help young Indigenous Australians stay out of that youth justice supervision system."
Long way to go
But the problem of over-representation in the youth justice system is far from over.
Half of those in the youth justice system on any given day are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That's despite only accounting for six per cent of those aged between 10 and 17 in Australia.
And Aboriginal and Torres Strait people in that age bracket are still 16 times as likely to be under supervision as non-Indigenous people.
Earlier this year, SBS News visited a youth boxing program in Redfern, Sydney, which has spent a decade building better relationships between young Aboriginal people and police. It is believed it may have helped contribute to a drop in crime rates in the area.
Redfern community leader Shane Phillips, a founder of the program who has cultural connections to the Bunjalung, Wonnarua, and Bidjigal peoples, said at the time: “Ten years ago, Redfern, we were imploding.”
“It’s all about the relationship and the consistency … what’s really important about having this relationship between community and police is we can attack proactively some of the stuff that everyone is talking about. The recidivism rates, incarceration rates, because it impacts us all.”
Shane Phillips (SBS) Source: SBS
“We want some of these young ones to come out and lead the right change,” he says.
“People can see that there is strength in the air and in Aboriginal communities, that strength is driven from inside and not outside.”
Ms Ritson said it is important to remember that reforms mean that most people under youth justice supervision are not in jail.
"That's one of the things that we do try and make quite clear … most people who are under youth justice supervision are not in detention. It certainly doesn't mean that they are in detention facilities,” she said.
“Around 80 per cent or more of the young people who are involved in youth justice supervision are actually supervised within the community. They're not in detention centres. They could be under bail or supervised release, those kinds of programs, to keep them out of a detention setting.”
She said it was also particularly important for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to get support within their communities.
"Generally, it's better to have them connected to family, connected to kin, connected to country, if that's their preference. And to keep them connected with their support system, outside of a detention setting."
RATES OF YOUTH JUSTICE SUPERVISION AROUND AUSTRALIA
* Northern Territory - 61 per 10,000
* Northern Territory - 61 per 10,000
* Queensland - 32 per 10,000
* Western Australia - 28 per 10,000
* Tasmania - 26 per 10,000
* South Australia - 13 per 10,000
* NSW and ACT - 17 per 10,000
* Victoria - 11 per 10,000
- With AAP
