Submission to the

Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee

inquiry into access to legal assistance services

15 May 2015

Submitted by Amnesty International Australia

Contact: Stephanie Cousins

Title: Government Relations Manager

Email: Stephanie.Cousins@Amnesty.org.au

Phone: +61 434 672 242

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About Amnesty International

Amnesty International is the worlds largest independent human rights organisation, comprising more than seven million supporters in more than 160 countries, including over 500,000 supporters in Australia. Amnesty International is a worldwide movement to promote and defend all human rights enshrined in international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Amnesty International undertakes research focused on preventing and ending abuses of these rights. Amnesty International Australias Indigenous Rights Team conducts research, advocacy and campaigning to advance the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Amnesty International Australia is impartial and independent of any government, political persuasion or religious belief. Amnesty International Australia does not receive funding from governments or political parties.

Background to this submission

This submission draws on extensive research Amnesty International Australia has conducted over the past two years on the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in the criminal justice system in Australia. This includes:

Field research carried out between mid-2013 and early 2015 by Amnesty International in Western Australia, including interviews with over 150 people from Aboriginal organisations; court officers and lawyers police and other officials working in the area of youth justice, particularly in three focus locations (Metropolitan Perth, Geraldton and Fitzroy Crossing).

Review of existing government and academic reports and inquiries into the Australian youth justice system, case law, legislation, parliamentary debates and answers to questions on notice by relevant Government Ministers, and commentary from members of the judiciary.

Preliminary research and conversations with Indigenous and community sector organisations in Queensland and the Northern Territory and national and state based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak organisations.

Amnesty International will be publishing two reports drawing from this research in the coming months. These reports will be provided to the Committee in due course as supplementary submissions.

Amnesty International is part of the National Justice Coalition, a coalition of Indigenous peak organisations and community sector organisations leading the Change the Record Campaign, aiming to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and as victims of crime in Australia.1 This submission has also been informed by the expertise of member organisations to the National Justice Coalition and by individual conversations with representatives of those organisations. In addition to this submission, Amnesty International has contributed to and supports the forthcoming National Justice Coalition submission to this inquiry.

1 See Steering Committee - National Justice Coalition, available from: https://changetherecord.org.au/about.

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CONTENTS

About Amnesty International .................................................................................................... 2

Background to this submission ................................................................................................ 2

CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ 3

1. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 4

2. AUSTRAILAS INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS .................................................................... 6

3. REASONS FOR OVER-REPRESENTATION OF INDIGENOUS YOUNG PEOPLE IN DETENTION .. 7

Laws contributing to over-representation ................................................................................... 8

Addressing underlying factors .................................................................................................. 9

Police practices .................................................................................................................... 11

Detention on remand ............................................................................................................ 11

4. ACCESS TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE ...................................................................................... 12

5. DATA DEFICIENCIES ....................................................................................................... 14

6. JUSTICE TARGETS .......................................................................................................... 15

7. ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION ....................................................................................... 16

Towards a justice reinvestment approach ................................................................................ 16

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1. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1.1 Amnesty International welcomes the opportunity to provide evidence to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee inquiry examining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience of law enforcement and justice services. This submission will address all aspects of the inquiry terms of reference, with a particular focus on youth justice. Amnesty Internationals focus on Indigenous youth justice is due to the even greater levels of overrepresentation among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people than adults in the criminal justice system. In early consultations with Indigenous peak organisations this issue was highlighted as a particular concern.

1.2 Indigenous youth detention in Australia is a national crisis and the crisis is getting worse. The most recent data, from 201314, shows that Indigenous young people are 26 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous young people.2 Indigenous people are also over-represented as victims of crime, with those aged between 15 and 24 identified as being at particular risk.3

1.3 The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has larger proportions of young people than the non-Indigenous population.4 In light of this, the National Congress of Australias First Peoples noted in 2013 that unless the rate of increase in youth detention can be reduced, rates of incarceration across the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population are likely to continue to increase into the future.5

1.4 The youth justice system in Australia is letting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people down. In 2012 the Committee on the Rights of the Child concluded that the Australian youth justice system requires substantial reforms for it to conform to international standards.6 Many of the issues identified by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2012 remain unaddressed today.

1.5 This submission highlights the need for the Australian Government and all State and Territories Governments to make real investments in reducing Indigenous youth detention rates, demonstrate effective leadership to tackle this crisis and support community-designed and led solutions. Such leadership will be crucial to secure the change that is urgently needed.

1.6 To address these challenges, Amnesty International recommends that the Australian Government:

(1) Act to ensure all domestic laws are consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention), including by:

Overriding state and territories laws that do not comply with the Convention.

Taking immediate steps to accede to the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.

2 AIHW, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, Table s 10, calculation based on the average over the four quarters (34.47 per 10,000 compared to 1.35 per 10,000 for non-Aboriginal young people). 3 Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2014 Report, [4.89]. 4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 3238.0.55.001 - Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2011, Notes. www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3238.0.55.001Main+Features1June%202011?OpenDocument (accessed 9 April 2015). ABS 3238.0 - Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2001 to 2026, Summary Australia, www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/C19A0C6E4794A3FACA257CC900143A3D?opendocument (accessed 9 April 2015). 5 National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, National Justice Policy (February 2013), p 13 http://nationalcongress.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CongressJusticePolicy.pdf (accessed 8 April 2015). 6 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations- Australia (28 August 2012) CRC/C/AUS/CO/4, [82].

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(2) Address the nexus between indigenous youth detention and prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), including by:

Recognising FASD as a disability under the National Disability Insurance Scheme and on the Department of Social Services List of Recognised Disabilities.

Providing sufficient resources to Indigenous community-designed and led initiatives to address the effects of FASD to ensure that it is treated as a disability rather than becoming a criminal justice issue.

Urgently finalising an approved diagnostic tool for FASD.

(3) Work with state and territory governments to ensure that Indigenous young people are not held in detention on remand solely due to a lack of other accommodation options. Strategies include:

Identifying areas of unmet need for supervised bail accommodation.

Funding Indigenous community controlled supervised bail accommodation and support services, with a particular focus on young girls and boys in out-of-home care, and those with mental health issues and cognitive impairments, including those with FASD.

Assisting state and territory governments to develop youth bail legislation requiring that pre-trial detention should occur only as a last resort where there is a risk of flight or where release would interfere with the administration of justice.

(4) Address uncertainty and gaps in delivery of quality legal services to Indigenous young people. This includes:

Ensuring sufficient ongoing funding is available to enable the Family Violence Prevention Legal Service (FVPLS) to continue their work.

Working with the state and territory governments to quantify the level of unmet legal need currently experienced by Indigenous young people and their families.

Taking immediate steps to make up the shortfall in funding to ensure that all young people facing criminal proceedings are granted full access to legal assistance.

(5) Improve the collection and use of juvenile justice data nationally in order to achieve better outcomes. The Australian Government should:

Commence work with all state and territory governments, through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), to identify and address gaps in the collection of standard and disaggregated data related to youth contact with the justice system. This should include taking immediate steps to integrate information on arrest and police diversion into the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set (JJ NMDS) and better link JJ NMDS data with child protection and adult corrections data.

Work with the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments to ensure that they provide JJ NMDS data in the required standard format (which they are currently failing to provide).

Take a leading role, through COAG, to identify the data required to implement a Justice Reinvestment approach, including by tasking a technical body with assisting states and territories to coordinate a national approach to data collection, analysis and use.

(6) Begin a process, through COAG, to develop justice targets to reduce Indigenous incarceration rates and create safer communities (through reduced rates of experienced violence). Such targets should be developed in consultation with Indigenous Peoples and their organisations that represent offenders and victims.

(7) Work with state and territory governments to ensure that the adoption of a justice reinvestment approach occurs in close consultation with Indigenous communities and their representatives and with a focus on Indigenous community designed and led solutions.

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2. AUSTRAILAS INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

2.1 Under international law, all fair trial and procedural rights that apply to adults apply equally to children. In addition, juvenile justice protections also exist under the international human rights framework in recognition that children differ from adults in their physical and psychological development.

2.2 The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the primary source of these rights. Unique among the major UN human rights treaties, it explicitly recognises the particular needs of Indigenous children.7 With 194 States Parties, the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. Australia signed and ratified the Convention in 1990.

2.3 In Australia each state and territory government is responsible for its own laws, policies and practices for dealing with young people accused of committing, or convicted of, offences. Nevertheless, the Australian Government bears ultimate responsibility for respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These include that:

the best interests of the child is a fundamental principle to be observed, including in the context of criminal justice;8

arrest and detention must be measures of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;9 and

a variety of appropriate alternatives to detention should be in place to ensure that children are dealt with in a manner appropriate to their well-being and proportionate both to their circumstances and the offence.10

2.4 Australia ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in 1975. ICERD prohibits any distinction on the basis of race which has either the purpose or effect of restricting the enjoyment of human rights. ICERD also recognises that there are circumstances where special and concrete measures are required in order to ensure the protection of certain groups, including Indigenous Peoples,11 for the purpose of guaranteeing them the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.12

2.5 Australia endorsed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration) on 3 April 2009. 13 The Declaration states that particular attention should be given to the rights and special needs of indigenous ... youth, children and persons with disabilities.14

7 United Nations Treaty Collection, No 11: Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (New York, 20 November 1989) https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&lang=en (accessed 1 October 2014). Articles 17(d); 29(d) and 30. 8 CRC, Article 3.1 9 CRC, Article 37 10 CRC, Article 40(3), Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 10 (2007) Childrens rights in juvenile justice [15] http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsqIkirKQZLK2M58RF%2f5F0vEZN%2bo3pfhJYL%2b%2fo2i7llJgP6EjqSGKnB2CPSr6g7ed2P0M8AO57Tg1kfwde7vhIIwc0tRQLDmAZWHVA9bVwzD%2b (accessed 2 January 2015). 11 Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, General Recommendation No. 23 (1997) on the rights of indigenous peoples, [1] http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/INT_CERD_GEC_7495_E.doc (accessed 2 January 2015). 12 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Article 2(2). 13 J Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Statement on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Speech delivered at Parliament House, Canberra, 3 April 2009), www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/Australia_official_statement_endorsement_UNDRIP.pdf (accessed 2 January 2015). 14 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 21.

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2.6 In the context of Australias compliance with its international obligations under these instruments, Amnesty International considers the over-representation of Indigenous young people in detention a human rights issue that must be addressed as a matter of priority.

3. REASONS FOR OVER-REPRESENTATION OF INDIGENOUS YOUNG PEOPLE IN DETENTION

3.1 The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison has risen by 88 per cent in the last decade.15 The rate at which Indigenous people are now incarcerated and detained in Australia has become a national crisis. While the statistics are shocking for adults,16 they are even worse for young Indigenous people. Between July 2013 and June 2014, Indigenous young people were 26 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous young people in Australia.17

3.2 In 201213, one in every 28 Indigenous boys and one in every 113 Indigenous girls spent time in detention. Over the same period, one in 554 non-Indigenous boys and one in 2,439 non-Indigenous girls spent time in detention.18

3.3 Indigenous young people are also over-represented as victims of crime. The 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey showed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experience violence at rates well above those of non-Indigenous Australians. Those aged between 15 and 24 are identified as being at particular risk.19

3.4 While Indigenous young people are disproportionately detained in all states and territories, the rate of over-representation varies considerably between jurisdictions. For example, Indigenous young people in WA are on average 53 times more likely than their non-Indigenous peers to be in detention.20 In contrast, Indigenous young people in Victoria are in detention at around a third of the national rate,21 although they are still in detention at 11 times the rate of non-Indigenous youth.22

15 Change the Record: Get the Facts, https://changetherecord.org.au/get-the-facts (accessed 12 May 2015). 16 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are imprisoned at a rate 13 times higher than that of non-Indigenous people, and currently Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up one in four people in prison in Australia. See Change the Record: Get the Facts, https://changetherecord.org.au/get-the-facts (accessed 12 May 2015). 17 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, Table s 10, www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129549675 (accessed 22 December 2014). Between the September quarter 2013 and June quarter 2014, (34.47 per 10,000 for Indigenous young people, compared to 1.35 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous young people). Rates set out in Table s 10 are not disaggregated by gender. 18 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth justice in Australia 201213. Bulletin no. 120. Cat. no. AUS 179. Canberra, Table S75b: Young people aged 1017 in detention during the year by sex and Indigenous status, states and territories, 201213 (rate): 352.65 per 10,000 for Indigenous Males, 18.04 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous Males, 88.87 per 10,000 for Indigenous females and 4.1 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous females. This figure includes estimates for the Northern Territory and Western Australia who did not provide data for the study. During the year statistics were not provided in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth Detention Population Australia in Australia 2014 publication. 19 Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2014 Report, [4.89] 20 AIHW, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, Calculation of average over four most recent quarters in Table s 10 (66.9 per 10,000 compared to 1.26 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous young people). 21 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, s 10 www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129549675 (accessed 22 December 2014). 22 AIHW, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, Table s 10: 8.21 per 10,000 compared to 0.75 per 10,000 for non-Indigenous young people in Victoria.

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Laws contributing to over-representation

3.5 A number of state and territory laws contribute to the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in detention. All Australian states and territories stipulate the age of criminal responsibility is 10,23 despite the Committee on the Rights of the Child concluding that 12 is the lowest internationally acceptable minimum age of criminal responsibility.24 This is particularly problematic given Indigenous 10 and 11-year-olds are more heavily over-represented in the criminal justice system than those in adolescent and older age brackets.25

3.6 Queenslands treatment of 17 year olds as adults in its criminal justice system is inconsistent with international legal standards. 26 The provision in Queenslands law that in sentencing a child for an offence, the court must not have regard to any principle that a detention order should be imposed only as a last resort is also in direct conflict with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.27 These laws must be changed.

3.7 Amnesty International is also highly concerned about the consequences of the three strikes mandatory sentencing laws in Western Australia on Aboriginal youth detention rates. The Western Australian Criminal Code Act 1913 (WA) requires magistrates to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months on a young offender where they already have two relevant convictions for a home burglary, or a sentence of three months where offences relate to serious assault and grievous bodily harm where the victim is a public officer.28 The last publicly available data on the impact of three strikes burglary laws is the Western Australia Department of Justices 2001 review of the legislation. The review found that 81 per cent of the 119 young people sentenced under the three strikes burglary laws were Indigenous.29 In 2001 the Aboriginal Justice Council described the three strikes burglary laws as profoundly discriminatory in their impact on Aboriginal Youth.30 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has also repeatedly called for these laws to be repealed.31

3.8 Yet, at the time of writing, the Western Australian Legislative Council is considering expanding mandatory minimum sentencing for young people through the Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill 2014 (WA). The Bill has already passed in the Legislative Assembly. The proposed amendments will lead to a significant increase in the youth detention population.32 The Government predicts requiring space for an extra 60 juvenile detainees at Banksia Hill within four years.33

23 Australian Institute of Criminology, The age of criminal responsibility, Crime facts info no. 106 ISSN 1445-7288 Canberra (2005) http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/cfi/101-120/cfi106.html (accessed 19 January 2015). 24 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 10 (2007) Childrens rights in juvenile justice, [32] http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/CRC.C.GC.10.pdf (accessed 16 January 2015). 25 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2014. Youth justice in Australia 201213. Bulletin no. 120. Cat. no. AUS 179, Table S76b: Young people in detention during the year by age, sex and Indigenous status, Australia (excluding WA and NT), 201213. 26 Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld), Schedule 4: child means a person who has not turned 17 years. 27 Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 (Qld) s 9, amending section 150(2)(e) of the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) and s 34 which inserts section 9A into the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) 28 Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA), sections 297(5) and 318(2). 29 Department of Justice (WA), Review of section 401 of the Criminal Code, (2001), 24. 30 N Morgan, H Blagg and V Williams for the Aboriginal Justice Council Mandatory Sentencing in Western Australia and the Impact on Aboriginal Youth (2001), p 3 http://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/wopapub/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002_04/hra_mandsent/submissions/sub89_pdf.ashx (accessed 2 January 2015). 31 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations Australia (28 August 2012) CRC/C/AUS/CO/4, [82]. 32 President of the Western Australian Childrens Court Dennis Reynolds, Youth Justice in Western Australia - Contemporary Issues and its future direction Eminent Speakers Series, The University of Notre Dame, above n 156, p 5. 33 Western Australian Parliament, Legislative Assembly Estimates Committees 2014, Division 68: Corrective Services (Thursday 22 May 2014), Mr James McMahon.

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3.9 These state and territory laws must be brought into alignment with Australias obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They also highlight the need for more effective accountability mechanisms to ensure children are able to seek remedy when their rights under the Convention are violated.34

3.10 The Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which entered into force in April 2014, is one such mechanism.35 It establishes an individual complaints mechanism for children, or their representatives, to make complaints about alleged violations of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.36 The Optional Protocol also enables the Committee to launch investigations into grave or systematic violations of childrens rights.37 The Australian Government is yet to sign or ratify the Protocol, despite recommendations from the Committee on the Rights of the Child that it do so.38 The Australian Government should accede to the Third Optional Protocol without further delay.

Recommendation 1: The Australian Government should act to ensure all domestic laws are consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including by: Overriding state and territories laws that do not comply with the Convention. Taking immediate steps to accede to the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights

of the Child on a communications procedure.

Addressing underlying factors

3.11 In the course of Amnesty Internationals research Indigenous leaders and community organisations consistently highlighted that more needs to be done to address underlying factors that contribute to this crisis. These include unresolved intergenerational trauma; cultural dislocation and dispossession; overcrowding and homelessness; family violence; poverty; lack of parental supervision; lack of education; boredom and peer pressure; alcohol and drug abuse; absence of youth drop-in centres; policing practices; FASD and other physical and mental health issues.

3.12 While most research indicates that risk factors for involvement in crime are comparable for men and women, young women in contact with the justice system are highly likely to have a history of childhood abuse or neglect, psychological or mental health issues such as mood and anxiety

34 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations Australia (20 October 2005) CRC/C/15/Add.268, [9]: the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee), the body that monitors State Parties implementation of the Convention, has noted concern that while the Convention may be considered and taken into account in Australia, in order to assist courts to resolve uncertainties or ambiguities in the law, it cannot be used by the judiciary to override inconsistent provisions of domestic law.34 http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsgnXZ0ChBsrwmcy8%2f%2bFNoDGE9kezfu6QQVHcPsu5ODnholmUW11ikkcmdS4vIFnPoND%2bPodjbTyzuRqtYMXTVpT0JzXW8fLUQG%2bC2XatsTc4 (accessed 28 November 2014). 35 As at March 2015, 48 countries had signed the Optional Protocol and 16 had ratified it: United Nations Treaty Collection, 11 .d Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, New York, 19 December 2011 https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11-d&chapter=4&lang=en (accessed 13 January 2015). 36 United Nations Treaty Collection, 11 .d Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, New York, 19 December 2011 https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11-d&chapter=4&lang=en (accessed 13 January 2015). 37 United Nations Treaty Collection, 11 .d Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, New York, 19 December 2011. 38 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations Australia (28 August 2012) CRC/C/AUS/CO/4, [85].

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disorders, a history of out-of-home care or unstable accommodation and chronic illness or disability.39

3.13 FASD in particular warrants closer attention given increasingly compelling evidence that FASD-affected children are more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system if their needs are not addressed through early intervention.40 Due to the lack of an official FASD diagnostic tool, little reliable information is available about the prevalence of FASD. However, results from the first population-based prevalence study about FASD in Australia were recently published, showing that one in eight children born in 2002 or 2003 in the Fitzroy Valley have fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or partial FAS.41 Around 90 per cent of the Fitzroy Valley population is Indigenous42 and 95 per cent of mothers involved in the study were Indigenous.43

3.14 An official diagnostic tool for FASD must urgently be finalised, and FASD should be formally recognised as a disability, so that people affected by FASD and their carers can access adequate funding and support. Community-designed and led programs must be better resourced so that young people affected by FASD get the early support they need, so that their behaviour is taken into account in any criminal justice proceedings. Diagnosis is also essential to ensure a fair trial for people affected with FASD and who are prosecuted for criminal offences.

Recommendation 2: The Australian Government should address the nexus between indigenous youth detention and prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, including by: Recognising FASD as a disability under the National Disability Insurance Scheme and on the

Department of Social Services List of Recognised Disabilities. Providing sufficient resources to Indigenous community-designed and led initiatives to address

the effects of FASD to ensure that it is treated as a disability rather than becoming a criminal justice issue.

Urgently finalising an approved diagnostic tool for FASD.

39 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2012. Girls and young women in the juvenile justice system: 201011. Bulletin no. 107. Cat. no. AUS 162. Canberra: AIHW, p 3, www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737423105 (accessed 12 May 2015). 40 Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission, Access to Justice for People with Disability Issues Paper, April 2013, p 2; House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Doing Time Time for Doing: Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system, p 96. Such evidence came from organisations such as the National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and Related Disorders, the Federal Department of Health and Ageing, from Child and Mental Health Professionals, teachers and Indigenous organisations. 41 Fitzpatrick, J. P., Latimer, J., Carter, M., Oscar, J., Ferreira, M. L., Carmichael Olson, H., Lucas, B. R., Doney, R., Salter, C., Try, J., Hawkes, G., Fitzpatrick, E., Hand, M., Watkins, R. E., Martiniuk, A. L., Bower, C., Boulton, J. and Elliott, E. J. (2015), Prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome in a populationbased sample of children living in remote Australia: The Lililwan Project. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, p 6. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpc.12814/pdf (accessed 19 January 2015). 42Francis Morphy, Population, People and Place: The Fitzroy Valley Population Project, http://caepr.anu.edu.au/system/files/Publications/WP/CAEPRWP70.pdf (accessed 2 January 2015). 43 Fitzpatrick, J. P., Latimer, J., Carter, M., Oscar, J et al (2015), Prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome in a populationbased sample of children living in remote Australia: The Lililwan Project. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, p 4.

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Police practices

3.15 Police practices and the way in which police utilize diversion options can also contribute to over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in detention. For example, in Western Australia once an Aboriginal young person comes in to contact with the police, they are more likely to be charged, rather than cautioned, compared to a non-Aboriginal young person. Aboriginal young people are diverted by police by cautioning or referral to a Juvenile Justice Team only 34 per cent of the time, whereas non-Aboriginal young people are diverted 59 per cent of the time.44

3.16 There is also a discrepancy in cautions issued in Victoria, with Aboriginal young people likely to be cautioned on average 8.6 per cent of the time and their non-Aboriginal peers 18.3 per cent of the time.45 The Victorian Government had previously put in place some measures to address this, which showed promise. For example, a Police Cautioning and Youth Diversion Pilot initiated by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), in collaboration with the Victorian Police, helped to address the low level of cautions issued to Aboriginal young people.

3.17 As part of this pilot the Victorian Police Manual was amended to include an agreed protocol around cautioning. This included a requirement that police give a caution whenever appropriate, and where it would not be appropriate, provide a notice of failure to caution to VALS and the local Youth Justice Services equivalent.46 An evaluation conducted by VALS found that there was an increase in cautions issued and that 94 per cent of those cautioned under the pilot did not re-offend after the follow-up meeting.47 Unfortunately, the pilot has not been continued.

Detention on remand

3.18 Indigenous young people are also more likely than non-Indigenous young people to be held in detention on remand due to inadequate bail accommodation options and other factors. On average 57 per cent (250 out of 437) of all unsentenced young people in detention from June 2013 to June 2014 were Indigenous.48 Indigenous young people are 23 times more likely than their non-Indigenous peers to be in unsentenced detention on a per capita basis.49

3.19 In the course of our research in Western Australia and preliminary research in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Victoria, Amnesty International heard that a lack of suitable supervised bail accommodation is a significant issue that impacts on the high rates of remand of Indigenous young people.50

44 Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2014 Report, Table 11A.3.24 WA, juvenile diversions as a proportion of offenders (aged 1017 years), by Indigenous status, 200809 to 201213 and Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2011 Report, Table 10A 5.31 WA, annual breakdown of juvenile cautions issued, 19942007 (a). See further analysis in forthcoming Amnesty report to be published on 11 June 2015. 45 Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2014 Report, Table 11A 3.6 Victoria, proportion of alleged young offenders (aged 1017 years) cautioned when processed by police, by Indigenous status, 2004-05 to 2012-13. 46 VALS submission to the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee in response to the Inquiry into Strategies to prevent high volume offending by young people Discussion Paper, p 19. http://vals.org.au/static/files/assets/fb552b15/sub_230908.pdf (accessed 5 October 2014). 47 VALS submission to the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee in response to the Inquiry into Strategies to prevent high volume offending by young people Discussion Paper, p 18. 48 Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, Tables s 2 and s 12. The proportion of non-Indigenous young people who were unsentenced rather than sentenced was slightly higher than for Indigenous young people (64 per cent) but the rate at which they are in unsentenced detention is 23 times lower. 49 Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Youth Detention Population in Australia 2014, Table s 20: 19.98 per 10,000 Indigenous young people compared to 0.86 per 10,000 non-Indigenous young people. 50 Written response by the Aboriginal Legal Service Western Australia to Amnesty International questionnaire (14 August 2014); Interview, Western Australia June 2014 (details withheld); Interview with Eddie Cubillo, Brisbane 20 May 201;, Interview with NAAJA CEO and staff, June 26 2014.

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3.20 Amnesty International considers that the Federal Government has a clear role to play in ensuring that Indigenous young people are not held in detention on remand solely due to homelessness, or a lack of suitable accommodation and support to comply with bail conditions. These are factors that have been raised repeatedly in the literature as key factors underpinning rises in custodial remand.51

Recommendation 3: The Australian Government should work with state and territory governments to ensure that Indigenous young people are not held in detention on remand solely due to a lack of other accommodation options. Strategies include: Identifying areas of unmet need for bail accommodation. Funding Indigenous community controlled bail accommodation and support services, with a

particular focus on young girls and boys in out-of-home care, and those with mental health issues and cognitive impairments, including those with FASD.

Assisting state and territory governments to develop youth bail legislation requiring that pre-trial detention should occur only as a last resort where there is a risk of flight or where release would interfere with the administration of justice. Under the model youth bail legislation, pre-trial detention should occur only after a case-by-case assessment of necessity and proportionality.

4. ACCESS TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE

4.1 Inadequate funding of Indigenous legal services, cuts and funding uncertainty are undermining the provision of culturally-sensitive legal assistance for Indigenous young people. This is notwithstanding the welcome recent reversal of the Governments disastrous decision to cut funding for state and territory based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS)52 and their national peak body NATSILS.53

4.2 The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services (FVPLS) provide specialised and complementary, culturally-tailored services for Indigenous Australians. ATSILS focus on criminal and civil law needs, while the FVPLS specialise in helping victims of family violence with legal and other assistance, which most often means Indigenous women, children and young people.54 They were established by Indigenous people to address the barriers Indigenous people have historically faced, and continue to face, in engaging with the Australian legal system.55

51 K Richards and L Renshaw, Bail and remand for young people in Australia: A national research project, Australian Institute of Criminology (No 125), p 65. See also NATSILS Shadow NGO Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child Regarding The Review Of Australia, pp 31-32; Northern Territory Government, Review of the Northern Territory Youth Justice System, 2011, p 33, www.correctionalservices.nt.gov.au/YouthJustice/ReviewOfTheNorthernTerritoryYouthJusticeSystem/Documents/youth_justice_review_report.pdf (accessed 16 January 2015). 52 Attorney-General and Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Women (Joint media release) Legal aid funding assured to support the most vulnerable in our community. Despite the acknowledged inadequacy of funding, in December 2013 the Australian Government announced $13.34 million in funding cuts to ATSILS around the country. An update on our services, Aboriginal Legal Services (NSW/ACT), 14 May 2014, http://www.alsnswact.org.au/news_items/110 (accessed 12 January 2015). 53 NATSILS, NATSILS welcomes the reversal of funding cuts, 26 March 2015, http://www.natsils.org.au/portals/natsils/26%20March%20NATSILS%20Reversal%20of%20Cuts.pdf (accessed 1 April 2015). 54 Productivity Commission, Access to Justice Arrangements, Inquiry report, Volume 2, p 761 http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/145406/access-justice-volume2.pdf (accessed 12 January 2014). 55 Productivity Commission, Access to Justice Arrangements, Inquiry report, Volume 2, [2.22] p 766.

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4.3 The role of the FVPLS in preventing family violence is essential to improving community safety. There is a widely recognised link between family violence, out of home care for children, homelessness and youth offending.56 Through the delivery of programs that address family violence, the FVPLS play a role in preventing risk factors for offending behavior among young people.

4.4 Amnesty International understands that FVPLS had confirmation in March 2015 that after a grueling open tender process funding for FVPLS will be maintained for 2-3 years at 2013/14 levels. However, the future remains highly uncertain for these crucial services following the termination of the National Family Violence Prevention Program which previously provided a direct allocation of funding. On 13 May 2015, FVPLS indicated that they require, a further $2 million per service, per annum to begin meeting the rise in demand and increased reporting rates of family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.57

4.5 Numerous parliamentary inquiries have concluded that both of these Indigenous legal services are significantly underfunded.58 The Productivity Commission has confirmed that there is significant unmet legal need among Indigenous Australians, and that real funding per person has declined by about 20 per cent between 200001 and 201011.59

4.6 The Productivity Commission recommended an additional $200 million per year be invested across the legal sector to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous legal aid providers to address unmet need.60

Recommendation 4: The Australian Government should address uncertainty and gaps in delivery of quality legal services to Indigenous young people. This includes: Ensuring sufficient ongoing funding is available to enable the Family Violence Prevention Legal

Service (FVPLS) to continue their work. Working with the state and territory governments to quantify the level of unmet legal need

currently experienced by Indigenous young people and their families. Taking immediate steps to make up the shortfall in funding to ensure that all young people facing

criminal proceedings are granted full access to legal assistance.

56 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Doing Time - Time for Doing Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system, [3.17] http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=atsia/sentencing/report/fullreport.pdf (accessed 1 October 2014), National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry Into Out Of Home Care (October 2014), p 10. 57 National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services, Federal Budget provides no relief for FVPLSs despite escalating rates of family violence, 13 May 2015, http://www.nationalfvpls.org/images/files/MR_13052015_Federal_Budget_provides_no_relief_for_FVPLSs_despite_escalating_rates_of_family_violence.pdf (accessed 13 May 2015). 58 See 2013 Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into the value of a Justice Reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2010-13/justicereinvestment/report/index (accessed 12 January 2015); House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Doing Time - Time For Doing: Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=atsia/sentencing/report.htm; Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, Parliament of Australia, Inquiry into Legal Aid and Access to Justice (2004); Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Parliament of Australia, Inquiry into Access to Justice (2009). 59 Productivity Commission, Access to Justice Arrangements, Inquiry report, Volume 2, p 700. 60 Productivity Commission, Access to Justice Arrangements, Inquiry report, Volume 2, 703.

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5. DATA DEFICIENCIES

5.1 The quality of data collection and use in relation to juvenile justice in Australia is not sufficient to enable governments to make informed decisions about investments to improve community safety and reduce Indigenous contact with the criminal justice system.

5.2 There are inconsistencies and gaps between states and territories in data relating to contact with the youth justice system. The Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set (JJ NMDS) is a valuable dataset but does not include state and territory data on police diversions, nor does it incorporate data on arrests or unsupervised court orders.61 The data is also not linked to information on adult contact with the justice system, so it is difficult to track rates of recidivism as a longer term trend through entry of young people into the adult system.

5.3 Disappointingly neither the Western Australian nor Northern Territory governments with the highest rates of Indigenous youth over-representation in detention in the country have provided standard data to the JJ NMDS since 200809.62

5.4 Amnesty International notes that efforts are being made, led by the Australian Juvenile Justice Administrators (AJJA), to improve data collection and use. 63 However, more work needs to be done. The improved collection of relevant data would facilitate informed decisions about how and where resources are best allocated to design and implement special and concrete measures to ensure that the best interests of Indigenous young people are adequately protected. It would assist the Australian Government to monitor and address any indirect discrimination in the effect of youth justice laws, policies and programs relating to Indigenous youth, and assist in tracking progress against any future justice targets (see section 7).

5.5 Amnesty International recommends COAG establishes a technical body to help support states and territories to improve data coordination in order to address data deficiencies. The Council of State Governments Justice Centre performs such a role in the USA.64

5.6 The Australian Government should also work with the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments to ensure that they provide JJ NMDS data in the required standard format.

61 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2014. Pathways through youth justice supervision. Juvenile justice series no. 15. Cat. no. JUV 40. Canberra, p 11. While such information was recently obtained from state and territory governments by the Productivity Commission for its Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report 2014, it is not standardised and therefore problematic to compare. 62 The AIHW recently noted that Western Australia did not provide JJ NMDS data between 200809 and 201213. AIHW Youth justice data quality and technical information www.aihw.gov.au/youth-justice/data-quality/ (accessed 2 October 2014). The Western Australian Attorney-General recently explained that while recognising the value of the JJNMD, it is the department's position that participation in the report is not cost effective when balanced against its involvement in other national reporting programs: Legislative Council of Western Australia, Reply by the Hon Michael Mischin to Question without notice no. 75 Asked by the Hon Linda Savage (21 May 2013). 63 Meeting with Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra (25 February 2015). The Productivity Commission notes in its Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2014 Report that the Australasian Juvenile Justice Administrators are overseeing several research projects to develop national youth justice policy, research and data capabilities. Current priorities include the development of a linked data collection to report on the relationships between child protection and youth justice, and a recidivism data collection project. 64 The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. Staff provides practical, nonpartisan advice and evidence-based, consensus-driven strategies to increase public safety and strengthen communities. See http://csgjusticecenter.org/about-jc/.

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Recommendation 5: The Australian Government should improve the collection and use of juvenile justice data nationally in order to achieve better outcomes. Australian should: Commence work with all state and territory governments, through COAG, to identify and address

gaps in the collection of standard and disaggregated data related to youth contact with the justice system. This should include taking immediate steps to integrate information on arrest and police diversion into the Juvenile Justice National Minimum Data Set (JJ NMDS) and better link JJ NMDS data with child protection and adult corrections data.

Work with the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments to ensure that they provide JJ NMDS data in the required standard format.

Take a leading role, through COAG, to identify the data required to implement a Justice Reinvestment approach, including by tasking a technical body with assisting states and territories to coordinate a national approach to data collection, analysis and use.

6. JUSTICE TARGETS

6.1 Amnesty International supports the calls of the National Justice Coalition Change the Record campaign that COAG establish justice targets that would seek to both:

Close the gap in rates of imprisonment by 2040; and

Cut the disproportionate rates of violence to at least close the gap by 2040 with priority strategies for women and children.65

6.2 Justice targets would help to focus and prioritise government investment on solutions that work to reduce both incarceration and rates of violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in particular women and children. Dual targets (relating to both reduced victimisation and reduced incarceration) would ensure a focus on outcomes that ultimately improve community safety while also recognising the reality that there is significant overlap between Indigenous offenders and victims of crime.

6.3 Justice targets would also be a much-needed mechanism for assessing progress and holding all levels of government accountable to addressing this justice crisis. This has been the case in relation to COAGs strategy and reporting against the six Closing the Gap targets it agreed in 2008, relating to Indigenous life expectancy, infant mortality, early childhood development, education and employment. Amnesty International has heard from Indigenous health experts, working with the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association and the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Council, that Closing the Gap targets have improved data collection, coordination, and tracking of efforts to address Indigenous disadvantage across all states and territories.66

6.4 Given the strong rationale for justice targets, and the fact that numerous inquiries and experts have recommended them,67 Amnesty International is disappointed that the Government has chosen not to implement justice targets.

65 Change the Record pledge, https://changetherecord.org.au/pledge (accessed 13 May 2015). 66 Meeting of the National Justice Coalition, Melbourne 3 June 2014. 67 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Doing Time Time for Doing: Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system, [138] www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=atsia/sentencing/report/fullreport.pdf (accessed 1 October 2014); Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, Communique 2122 July 2011, p 3 www.lccsc.gov.au/agdbasev7wr/sclj/documents/pdf/scag_communique_21-22_july_2011_final.pdf (accessed 12 January 2014); National Congress of Australias First Peoples, National Justice Policy, p 16 http://nationalcongress.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CongressJusticePolicy.pdf (accessed 12 January 2015); Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Social Justice and Native Title Report 2014, 4.3 Justice targets, [4.5], www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/SJNTR%20FINAL.pdf (accessed 12 January 2015).

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Recommendation 6: The Australian Government should immediately begin a process, through COAG, to develop justice targets to reduce Indigenous incarceration rates and create safer communities (through reduced rates of experienced violence). Such targets should be developed in consultation with Indigenous Peoples and their organisations that represent offenders and victims.

7. ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

7.1 Criminologists have identified that contact with the youth justice system increases the likelihood of criminality in adulthood, and the more intensive and restrictive the justice intervention, such as detention, the greater the likelihood of adult criminality and judicial intervention.68

7.2 It clear from the statistics that the tough on crime approach to law enforcement is not working to address Indigenous youth offending behaviour. Nor is it a cost effective way of addressing community safety concerns. In 2013/14 around $409 million was spent on the costs of detaining young people in Australia, up from $399 million two years prior.69 This translates to over $1200 dollars per day or $440,000 per year for each young person in detention on an average day.70

7.3 In the course of Amnesty Internationals research Indigenous leaders and community organisations consistently highlighted that more needs to be done to address the underlying factors that contribute to the crisis, through early intervention, prevention and diversion programs that are designed and led by local communities. Such programs could be funded through a diversion of resources away from imprisonment: the so-called justice reinvestment approach.

Towards a justice reinvestment approach

7.4 Numerous organisations, Committees and inquiries have recommended that the Australian Government adopt a justice reinvestment strategy,71 or at least trial justice reinvestment approaches that have been shown to work elsewhere.72

7.5 Amnesty International considers that, consistent with international standards, a justice reinvestment approach must be rolled out in a way that involves Indigenous people in decision-making and that includes Indigenous-led and designed programs (and those delivered in partnership with Indigenous communities).

68 K Richards 2011, What makes juvenile offenders different from adult offenders? Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice, No.409, February 2011, Australian Institute of Criminology, p 7. 69 Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2015, Table 16A.1 state and territory government real recurrent expenditure on youth justice services, (2013-14 dollars) http://www.pc.gov.au/research/recurring/report-on-government-services/2015/community-services/data/rogs-2015-volumef-chapter16-attachment.xlsx (accessed 28 January 2015). 70 Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2015, Table 16A.1 state and territory government real recurrent expenditure on youth justice services, (2013-14 dollars) http://www.pc.gov.au/research/recurring/report-on-government-services/2015/community-services/data/rogs-2015-volumef-chapter16-attachment.xlsx (accessed 28 January 2015). 71 See Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations Australia, CERD/C/AUS/CO/15-17, [20] http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsoFZxvnsZjtq1Xnb4bcEJClA0kmqJQeV0zdR93%2ffv7%2fBSAkon8Nc2CMTKCBgv25nw5etVi%2bkUMR9abtAFqi1lgW095I%2btkhuhVTozo2kfkhQV78slhAW5U9xPBqn413aeA%3d%3d (accessed 2 January 2014); NJCEOS Justice Reinvestment / Causes of Crime Working Group Report https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=b6b242fd-53e1-4a55-935d-62dfbdf6814b (accessed 16 March 2015); Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Value of a justice reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia, June 2013, [7.116]. 72 Productivity Commission, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage 2014 Report, [4.106]; Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into the value of a Justice Reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia, http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Completed_inquiries/2010-13/justicereinvestment/report/index (accessed 12 January 2015).

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7.6 One promising example of such a community-led approach is in the town of Bourke in north-west New South Wales, which is adopting justice reinvestment with the help of philanthropic funding.73 Amnesty International has also examined a number of programs in Western Australia that are having an impact on offending behaviour by assisting young people to embrace their Aboriginal identity and connect to their culture.74 These programs often struggle for sustained funding and support.

7.7 Amnesty International considers that a justice reinvestment approach must be rolled out in a way that is community led, rather than top down. This will contribute to ensuring that culturally relevant, tailored and effective solutions are available to address the underlying causes of offending such that detention is a measure of last resort for Indigenous young people.

Recommendation 7: The Australian Government should work with state and territory governments to ensure that the adoption of a justice reinvestment approach occurs in close consultation with Indigenous communities and their representatives.

73 Social Justice Commissioner, Social Justice and Native Title Report 2014, 4.2 Justice Reinvestment, p 108, www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/SJNTR%20FINAL.pdf (accessed 12 January 2015), p 110. 74 Programs that support Aboriginal young people that Amnesty International is aware of which are Aboriginal designed and/or run in partnership with Aboriginal people and communities include the Deadly Sista Girlz program run through the Wirrpanda Foundation; Alive and Kicking Goals, run in partnership by the Broome Saints Football Club and Mens Outreach Service in Broome; the Yiriman Project Mens and Womens Groups (funded through Federal Government programs); the Clontarf Academy; Youth Diversion Services undertaken by Geraldton Streetworkers Aboriginal Corporation and Yaandina Family Centre; the Kimberley Girl Competition; Marninwarntikura Womens Resource Centre and Big hArts Yijala Yala Project.