2024-09-06
During Budget Estimates it was revealed that the rates of First Nations children and young people on remand in the 12 months since June 2023 have increased by 43%. Of that figure, 29.8% of First Nations people are on remand for car theft, while 21.1% for break and enter. These figures reveal that not only are more First Nations children and young people coming into contact with the justice system since June last year, but that these young people are in remand due to the highly controversial changes to the bail laws that were rushed through the Parliament in April this year.
Under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (Target 11), the NSW Government is committed to reducing the rate of young First Nations people in detention by at least 30 percent.
Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said “We knew these laws were wrong when they were strong-armed through Parliament in April, but to see this soaring increase of young First Nations people in prison just months later, is absolutely devastating and damning,”
“First Nations people are already grossly overrepresented in the criminal justice system and we know the catastrophic impacts of this fact. Now shock-jock law-making has made certain that even more First Nations kids will be thrown into prison and it's Premier Chris Minns and the Attorney General Michale Daley who have done this., This is what political failure looks like,”
“The increase in children and young people behind bars is worse than predicted, and it’s only half the story. The reality is that the majority of the children and young people locked up are likely there because they were denied bail under the changes NSW Labor rushed through NSW Parliament earlier this year,”
“We know that once a child or young person comes into contact with the criminal justice system their lives are irreversibly changed for the worse. These young, vulnerable people who need protection and care will more than likely cycle through our prison system for decades at an enormous emotional cost to themselves, their families and our communities,”
“NSW Labor is shattering any chance this state has of meeting our Closing the Gap targets. It is farcical for this Government to stand up and say they are committed to reducing youth incarceration rates on one hand, and on the other, legislate punitive law-and-order responses to lock away First Nations children and young people,”
“Under these laws these children have been targeted and rounded up like lambs to the slaughter. It is sickening how calculated the effects of these laws are, and this data reveals this in black and white,” Ms Higginson said.