Australia's Indigenous leaders and justice experts are gathering in Mparntwe/Alice Springs over the next two days to advocate for evidence-based alternatives to incarceration, as Indigenous imprisonment rates continue to rise across the country.
The Reintegration Puzzle Conference, hosted by the Justice Reform Initiative, follows a collective call from the First Nations Caucus of the Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates, who on Tuesday, urged "governments to finally listen, act, and uphold the rights of the children and young people they are obligated to protect".
The conference also comes less than a month after the death in custody of 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White in Mparntwe — one of 12 Indigenous deaths in custody so far this year. His death has triggered protests nationwide calling for an independent investigation, citing widespread concern about racism and bias in NT policing.
Both the NT Police and the Chief Minister have refused to initiate an independent investigation.
Mr White's death occurred amid a broader national trend of punitive criminal justice policies, despite all governments having signed the Closing the Gap agreement.
In the last two years alone, the Northern Territory lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10; New South Wales and Victoria introduced strict bail laws, condemned by human rights groups; and Queensland enacted "adult crime, adult time" laws targeting children — in direct conflict with international human rights standards.
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Catherine Liddle, Chief Executive of SNAICC — the national voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children — said the rise in Indigenous children being held in adult watch houses and prisons was alarming, and showed that policy must shift.
"Criminalising children and locking them up does not address youth crime rates or result in safer communities," Ms Liddle said.
"The evidence is very clear that the younger a child is when they are locked up, the more likely it is that they will have ongoing criminal justice system involvement."
The Arrernte/Luritja woman from Central Australia argued too often, children are incarcerated instead of being provided the support they require.
"We need investment in early intervention, prevention and diversion programs that are proven to interrupt the cycle of crime and imprisonment," Ms Liddle said.
"This is where we need policymakers to focus and invest – not on hiring more police or building more cells."
According to Productivity Commission data, Australia is not on track to meet its adult incarceration targets under the Closing the Gap framework, and Indigenous imprisonment rates are rising. The latest data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners account for 37 per cent of all persons in custody nationally, despite making up less than 4 per cent of the population.
Kings Narrative Managing Director, Tyson Carmody, argued for a more holistic, community-based approach rather than increasingly punitive laws. He said high incarceration rates reinforce harmful stereotypes.
He warned the 'tough on crime' narrative often feels indistinguishable from being "tough on Aboriginal people".
"We know the solutions we seek lie within the oldest living culture, not in punitive policies that don't align with available evidence," Mr Carmody said.
"There is plenty of work to be done, I urge all levels of government to change their responses to achieve the outcomes our communities so desperately need."
Taxpayers currently spend more than $6.8 billion annually on adult prisons and $1 billion on youth detention. Justice Reform Initiative Executive Director Dr Mindy Sotiri said the conference would focus on creating off-ramps from the justice system and breaking the cycle of incarceration.
"It's clear that jailing is failing, and yet it is too often a default policy response to both crime and to disadvantage," she said.
"All of the evidence shows that prisons don't work to make communities safer, they don't work to prevent reoffending, and they also cause great harm."
On Tuesday, the First Nations Caucus reminded governments that they are legally bound by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other international obligations to uphold and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
"These are not symbolic gestures. They are binding commitments. And yet, those commitments ring hollow when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are left behind or locked away," they said in a statement.
