Change the Record welcomes today’s announcement of $1 billion investment in initiatives to #CloseTheGap but warns that consistent leadership is required at all levels of government if real progress is to be made. According to this week’s Productivity Report, only 3 of the 17 Closing the Gap targets are on track.
Doing justice differently
Cheryl Axleby, Co-Chair of Change the Record said:
“Change the Record welcomes the additional funding announced for complex legal cases and coronial inquests for Aboriginal Legal Services. However, this funding is the bare minimum required to respond to the huge need in our community for legal assistance. Driving down the number of our people who are forced into the criminal legal system will require state, territory and Commonwealth leadership.
“Change the Record has been calling for a National Justice Reinvestment Body for years now, to redirect funds away from the harmful prison system and into our communities, organisations and our people. Instead of building new and bigger prisons to lock away more First Nations peoples; state, territory and Commonwealth governments should be investing in more affordable housing, an adequate social security safety net and raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to address the drivers of mass-incarceration.
“We need national leadership to ensure OPCAT is fully implemented and there is independent oversight of police and prison cells in every state and territory. And, as our people continue to lose their lives behind bars, the Commonwealth Government must prioritise the immediate implementation of all outstanding recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.”
Ending violence against First Nations women
Antoinette Braybrook, Co-Chair of Change the Record said:
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are the fastest growing prison population, and experience shameful rates of domestic and family violence. To close the gap, family violence prevention and legal services must receive adequate, dedicated funding. We welcome the announcement of $1 billion and investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services. We particularly welcome the Commonwealth’s commitment to data sovereignty so we can collect and analyse our own data, to meet our own needs.”
“Family violence prevention and legal services received only a quarter of the funding our services need to meet community demand in the 2021 Budget, and we are disappointed that there has been no Commonwealth commitment to our services today.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women must not be overlooked or ignored in this government’s efforts to end violence against women. We are over 30 times more likely to be victims of violence than other women. To end this disparity, Commonwealth, state and territory governments must listen to the calls of First Nations women for dedicated funding for our services, our peak body, and a dedicated National Action Plan to end violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.”