New figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show the proportion of Aboriginal people in prison in our state is the highest on record. 

Aboriginal people made up 29.7% of the adult prison population in NSW in February 2023, the highest proportion on record. In March 2023, it stood at 29.5%. 

BOSCAR Data also shows 56.7% of imprisoned children in NSW are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The number of Aboriginal young people in custody is now 122, an increase of 28.4% in the 12 months to March 2023. Of those Aboriginal young people, 92 (75.4%) were on remand. 

In NSW, 278,000 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the 2021 Census of Population and Housing, representing 3.4% of the state's population. 

At the end of March 2023, there were 3,709 Aboriginal people in NSW prisons - the second-highest monthly figure on record. 

The Aboriginal Legal Service ACT/NSW (ALS) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have released a joint statement saying the "Government cannot ignore the growing crisis of the imprisonment of Aboriginal people in NSW." 

"The increasing number of Aboriginal people in custody shows a disturbing lack of progress in Closing the Gap in NSW," the statement said.

"More than 30 years on from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and two years on from a NSW Legislative Council Selective Committee Inquiry, the NSW Government is failing to take recommended steps to reduce the Aboriginal prison and youth detention population.

"These numbers also reflect the impact of over-policing of Aboriginal communities in NSW, a 'push' factor driving the numbers of Aboriginal adults and young people on remand.

The ALS and PIAC continue to call for reform. In particular, ending the use of 'proactive policing' tools like the Suspect Target Management Plan against young people and reforming consorting laws which they say are disproportionately used against Aboriginal people. 

Karly Warner, CEO of the ALS (NSW/ACT), said, "The system is stacked against Aboriginal people at every step of the way. Our communities are over-policed, over-charged, denied bail at higher rates, and vastly over-represented in prisons." 

Karly Warner. Image: The Wheeler Centre 

"This is tearing families apart, building on intergenerational trauma, and leaving loved ones in constant fear that their relative may be the next Aboriginal death in custody."

It comes as a report released this week from BOCSAR showed that indigenous people are far more likely to be charged rather than cautioned than non-indigenous people under the state's cannabis caution laws.

According to Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director of BOCSAR, "Research has demonstrated that diversion from the criminal justice system for minor offenses can have significant benefits for individuals. Yet, each year in NSW, more than 2,000 Aboriginal adults caught with small amounts of cannabis are proceeded against to court".  

"The NSW Cannabis Cautioning Scheme is one option available to police to keep people out of the system, but it remains largely inaccessible to most Aboriginal people due to its strict eligibility criteria and wide scope for police discretion."   

Jonathon Hunyor, Public Interest Advocacy Centre CEO, said of the rising imprisonment rates, 'This is a genuine crisis, and the numbers show it's getting worse.' 

'Children as young as ten can be arrested and thrown in a police wagon, strip-searched, and held in remand at a detention center. That causes significant harm. Raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 will go part of the way to addressing this crisis.'  

A spokesperson from The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) told the Western Plains App it is "committed to working closely and collaboratively with Aboriginal communities to address the causes contributing to the disproportionate rates of Aboriginal adults and young people in contact with the justice system". 

"Our goal is to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in custody by at least 15 per cent by 2031. 

Key initiatives to achieve this goal include: 

• $9.8 million for new Justice Reinvestment initiatives, which aim to divert people away from the criminal justice system through community-led initiatives that address the underlying causes of crime, with a focus on Aboriginal people. 

• $5.8 million to expand the Youth Koori Court to the Children’s Court at Dubbo and to provide more funding for Aboriginal Legal Services, Legal Aid NSW and a specialist Children’s Magistrate to oversee the Youth Koori Courts including at Surry Hills and Parramatta. 

• The expansion of the Drug Court to Dubbo to help break the cycle of dependency and re-offending. The Dubbo Drug Court commencing sitting in February 2023