Page 1473 - Week 05 - Thursday, 1 June 2023
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but it is always heard about when something goes wrong. The progress made since my last update in November 2021 is directly due to their hard work and determination in a constantly changing environment. I look forward to seeing what is achieved in 2023.
I have no doubt that the momentum gained will continue, and I will continue to work with ACTCS and my colleagues across government to progress important reforms to legislation and practice in the corrections portfolio. I look forward to updating the members as this work progresses.
I present the following paper:
ACT Corrective Services Update—Ministerial statement, 1 June 2023
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
MR BRADDOCK (Yerrabi) (11.12): It is Reconciliation Week, and we have literally just finished the minister’s statement on reconciliation. I am very concerned that here we rise to talk about the ministerial statement for corrections, which freely acknowledges the problem of over-representation within the AMC prison population. First Nations people make up 26 per cent of the AMC population compared to just two per cent of the broader population. This was followed by further statistics that demonstrate a sorry state of affairs.
The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees released from prison who returned to prison with a new sentence within two years increased from 44 per cent in 2020-21 to 47.2 per cent in 2021-22. The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees released from prison who returned to corrective services with a new correctional sanction, which was either a custodial or community sentence, within two years also increased. The ACT went from 67 per cent in 2020-21 to 77 per cent in 2021-22. The ACT had the second-highest rate of return of First Nations people in that year, a rate higher than the national figure of 62.9 per cent.
With these statistics, I was glad to hear that Minister Gentleman stated that this level of over-representation of First Nations people in the ACT justice system is simply unacceptable and that the government is committed to addressing this as a matter of priority. A critical part of addressing this is to ensure that AMC respects the human rights of detainees—respects their dignity and their rights. I note the update makes only passing mention of human rights with respect to the body scanners, which will become an item of debate next week with the corrections and sentencing bill. Consideration of human rights needs to be core to ACT Corrective Services organisational culture, policy, structure and operations.
I look forward to reading the government’s response to the ACT Inspector of Correctional Services healthy prison review. This review highlighted the significant ongoing challenges within the AMC in stark relief, and I look forward to talking further then. I note that ACT Corrective Services also needs to do its part to achieving the government’s target to reduce recidivism by 25 per cent by 2025 and rise to the challenge of rehabilitating detainees.
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