In the four years since 2015, the number of Aboriginal young people in custody in NSW fell by 25 per cent, according to a report from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR).
BOCSAR said its report, Understanding the decline in Aboriginal young people in custody in NSW from 2015 to 2019, found the reduction was primarily due to a drop in offending by Aboriginal young people and a reduction in the number, and proportion, of Aboriginal young people who received a custodial sentence.
“Between 2015 and 2019, the average number of Aboriginal young people in custody declined from 161 per day in 2015 to 121 in 2019,” BOCSAR said.
“Falls in the number of Aboriginal young people in remand and in sentenced custody both contributed to the decline (down 21 per cent and 29 per cent respectively),” it said.
“Two key factors contributed to the downward trend; the first was a reduction in the number of Aboriginal young people charged by police and appearing in court.”
BOCSAR said that between 2015 and 2019, the number of Aboriginal young people proceeded against to court by police declined from 3,685 in 2015 to 3,324 in 2019.
It said the second factor was the decline in Aboriginal young people being sentenced to a custodial order, from 404 in 2015 to 221 in 2019.
Executive Director of BOCSAR, Jackie Fitzgerald welcomed the reduction in Aboriginal children in detention and said positive trends for Aboriginal people were too rare in criminal justice.
“The result allows for cautious optimism that Aboriginal over-representation in custody can be shifted,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“Unfortunately, despite improvements, we still have a long way to go.”
Ms Fitzgerald said Aboriginal young people currently made up 40 per cent of young people in detention and the issue remained significant.
BOCSAR’s 16-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
