Incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

We believe that increasing cultural competency and trauma informed approaches across the entire criminal justice system, from first contact with the police through to parole programs, has the potential to significantly reduce the rate of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Better provision of early intervention services would also have a significant impact.

There have been numerous reports establishing what is needed in terms of cultural competence and why this is important, and many successful pilot programs. Despite this, little progress has been made to develop cultural competence across the criminal justice system.