Australia goes backwards on First Nations justice
The disproportionate incarceration of First Nations people is getting worse despite governments at all levels committing to change.
In 2019, the federal, state and territory governments committed to reduce the number of First Nations people in prison by at least 15% by 2031.
In the six years since this commitment, the number of First Nations people in prison in Australia has increased by 30%.
New data from the Productivity Commission shows that Australia is not on track to meet either of the two Closing the Gap targets for justice, and has gone backwards for both in the last year.
The number of First Nations people in custody increased by 15% from 2023 to 2024, with the imprisonment rate now at 2304.4 per 100,000 people when it comes to adults.
Every state and territory is heading backwards on this target except for the ACT, which has remained unchanged and Victoria, although recently announced bail reforms are likely to lead to more First Nations people being imprisoned.
The Closing the Gap target for youth justice is to reduce the rate of First Nations young people in prison by at least 30% by 2031.
In 2023-24 the incarceration rate of First Nations children on an average day was 26.1 per 10,000 children, the highest rate in the last four years.
Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory have gone backwards when it comes to this target, New South Wales and Tasmania have remained unchanged while Victoria and South Australia showed some improvements.
Overall, just four of the 19 Closing the Gap targets are on track to be met by 2031.
“We found that governments had not taken enough meaningful action to meet their commitments under the agreement,” Productivity Commission Commissioner Selwyn Button said.
“The continued worsening of outcomes we’ve seen in some Closing the Gap target areas shows the importance of governments taking their commitments to the National Agreement seriously, and taking meaningful actions to fully implement the priority reforms.”
As of the end of last year there were 15,901 First Nations people in prison, an increase of just over 10% from the previous year.