Page 462 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 15 February 2017
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we need to remember. We actually have a lot of measures in place already to try to divert people from incarceration because we recognise that incarceration is generally not a good outcome for people or for our community. It is a better outcome if, instead of going to prison on remand, an accused person can remain in society, connected to the community, their job and with the support of family or friends; and, in any case, we should try to avoid punishing people by imposing imprisonment when they are yet to be proved guilty.
Bail is more complex than the black-and-white dichotomy often presented in political debates. For example, ensuring people have the ability to apply effectively for bail is a strategy to reduce recidivism. In my justice portfolio, and in collaboration with the Attorney-General, I am pursuing a range of improvements to reduce recidivism as part of the ACT’s justice reinvestment strategy. It is part of a commitment set out in the parliamentary agreement to reduce recidivism in the ACT by 25 per cent by 2025. The reason for having that kind of target is that we know it will make our community safer. If we reduce recidivism, we are reducing the rate of crime undertaken in the community, and that is something that is clearly designed to make our community safer.
Under the justice reinvestment strategy, this year, for example, we will trial a bail support program designed to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on remand and the time spent on remand, while at the same time maintaining public safety. The trial will provide support to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders who would otherwise have difficulties applying for bail. This recognises the positive outcomes in the justice system that result from affording bail to accused people when it is safe to do so.
That, of course, is a very important point, and community safety is a key consideration in the bail process. There are instances where the nature of the crime is so serious that a person can be imprisoned before their trial. I think the judgement of the community would be that they should be. Courts consider a range of factors in their assessment of bail, such as whether the person is a danger to the community, their prior conduct and the type of crime of which they are accused. They also consider other issues such as whether the person is a flight risk.
These competing principles give rise to a very difficult balance. At one end of the spectrum we could say that there should be no bail at all, and that anyone accused of an offence should be put on remand until a point where they are proved innocent or guilty. That approach might maximise community safety but I think we would all agree this would be an unacceptable restriction of a person’s rights. Such a draconian provision would see our prisons overflow with untried people on remand, and the impacts for these people, in terms of their removal from employment, from their social connections et cetera, would be most negative.
Going back to the bail support program that is about to be trialled for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we can reflect on the terrible over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our corrections system, a significant number of whom are on remand. We know that as a society we are deeply concerned about that. We are seeing too many, particularly young Aboriginal men but also
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