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Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes has formally acknowledged Victoria’s criminal justice system has been a “site of exclusion and oppression” for Aboriginal people recently and historically.
In her witness statement to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Symes said laws targeted at Aboriginal people unequally applied to them, and the refusal to enact ones to help advance First Nations communities had entrenched systemic and structural racism within the justice system and the government more broadly.
“I acknowledge also that the impact and structures of colonisation are far-reaching and intergenerational and are continuing to affect Aboriginal peoples’ interactions with the criminal justice system,” Symes said in her witness statement.
“I acknowledge that Aboriginal peoples face unique and pervasive inequities that go over and beyond those experienced by other vulnerable cohorts and indeed the broader community. This includes structural racism that is a product of the devastating effects of colonisation. Regrettably, our current structures, laws and policies can serve to compound those inequities.”
Victorian State Attorney General Jaclyn Symes gives evidence to the Yoorrook Justice Commission.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Symes is appearing at the commission on Friday to speak about the over-representation of Aboriginal people in prisons.
The number and rates of First Nations people involved in the criminal justice system in Victoria are lower than most other Australian jurisdictions, but are unacceptably high.
The commission’s inquiry into the injustices experienced by First Peoples in the state’s criminal justice and child protection systems has this week heard from government witnesses about the disproportionate impact that the bail law amendments have had on Indigenous people since 2018.
In the year ending June 2022, 1190 people were held in prison custody without having been sentenced, according to data supplied in government submissions to the inquiry. In the same period, 735 Aboriginal men and women were discharged from prison having been held in custody without being sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Symes is appearing at the commission on Friday to speak about the over-representation of Aboriginal people who are incarcerated.Credit: CHRIS HOPKINS
The latest prison population figures revealed 783 Aboriginal adult males were in custody as of Monday, making up 13 per cent of the prison population, with 49 per cent of them unsentenced.
There were 38 Aboriginal women in custody, making up 12 per cent of the female prison population, with 44 per cent on remand. There were 11 Aboriginal young people in custody as of Wednesday, nine on remand.
In her witness statement, Symes said one of the challenges in reforming the criminal justice system was identifying any single policy, law or operation that is the root cause of systemic injustice and structural racism.
“These issues are complex and multi-faceted. Through this Yoorrook truth-telling process the government will further reflect and critically assess the criminal justice system, laws and policies and their impact on Aboriginal people and partner with the Commission and the Aboriginal community to continue to identify and implement meaningful solutions for change,” Symes said in her statement.
“When examining the profile of those who come into contact with the justice system, it is also notable that there is a high representation of people who have an acquired brain injury, who experience mental illness and who experience socio-economic disadvantage. This broadly reflects inequities that exist within the community and demonstrates the breadth of systemic injustices within the criminal justice system.”
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