The Northern Territory's largest Indigenous legal organisation has responded to the Closing the Gap numbers released this week by calling for a greater investment in programs and services to combat the over-incarceration of Indigenous people.
Despite a 15 per cent decrease in Indigenous incarceration by 2031 being set as one of the Closing the Gap targets, the latest Annual Data Compilation Report (ADCR) released on Wednesday revealed prisoner numbers continue to rise.
In the NT, Indigenous adults are incarcerated at a rate of 3,029.2 per 100,000 people — the second highest rate in the country behind WA and more than 17 times the rate of incarceration for non-Indigenous Territorians.
Concerningly, it is more than 23 per cent higher than the baseline figure in 2019.
Furthermore, In the NT, eight out of the 19 targets are going worsening - the worst result in the country.
The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) called for more investment in diversionary and restorative justice programs.
"This latest Closing the Gap report makes for disturbing reading and confirms that what we are currently doing in the Northern Territory is failing abysmally," NAAJA Principal Legal Officer Jared Sharp said.
"While some states have recorded improvements in imprisonment rates for adults and children, the Northern Territory had worsening trends compared to the 2019 baseline year."
Mr Sharp said it was particularly concerning to see the number of people in detention who were 13 years-of-age or under when they first entered the system increasing.
"We often refer to the revolving prison door and that's because locking people up without addressing the underlying contributors to them being there in the first place leads to more and more imprisonment. This is particularly true in the case of children," he said.
"If we are serious about meeting these Closing the Gap targets, we need to start investing in the right areas – less police and prisons and more programs and services that tackle the underlying factors that are linked to offending, such as poverty and disadvantage, substance issues, trauma and homelessness."
Whilst the youth detention rate dropped slightly from the previous year, it is significantly higher than the baseline year.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 14-17 are incarcerated at a higher rate in the NT than anywhere else in the country,
Mr Sharp also highlighted the concern around Indigenous children being placed into out-of-home care (OOHC), calling for action on the Territory's "failing child protection system," with children entering the system far likely to end up in juvenile and adult incarceration.
"In the NT, child protection lodgements jumped 50 per cent in the last 12 months, and only 25 per cent of Aboriginal children in out of home care are placed in a kinship placement," he said.
"This needs to be significantly higher if we are to ensure better outcomes for vulnerable children."
