Indigenous Australians, Intellectual Disability and Incarceration: A Confluence of Rights Violations
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- An estimated 523,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and 22,689,000 non-Indigenous people living in households;
- Of the 523,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, almost one-quarter (23.9%) reported living with disability, whereas prevalence of disability amongst non-Indigenous people was 17.5%;
- Disability prevalence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females was similar (22.7% and 25.1% respectively);
- One in seven (14.8%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reported living with physical disability (this was the most commonly reported type of disability for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people);
- For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (aged 0–14 years), intellectual disability (7.0%) was the most commonly reported disability;
- When compared with non-Indigenous people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had significantly higher crude rates of physical disability (14.8% compared with 11.4%), psychosocial disability (6.6% compared with 3.8%), intellectual disability (5.9% compared with 2.5%), and head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury (2.1% compared with 1.1%).
- When compared with non-Indigenous people, however, there was no significant difference between the reported crude rates of sensory and speech disability in the two populations (6.1% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with 5.8% of non-Indigenous people).
- “Due to the scope of the SDAC, it should be noted that information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people presented… is limited to households (and excludes nursing homes and cared-accommodation). The coverage of the SDAC does not include people living in very remote areas and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Therefore, data presented… are not necessarily representative of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living across Australia.”
2. Background
A Brief Overview of Indigenous Imprisonment in Australia
3. Prisoner Health in Australia, Including the Health of Prisoners with Intellectual Disability
3.1. General Impact of the Prison Environs on, and Typology of Health Conditions of, Prisoners Incarcerated in Australia
3.2. What Is Broadly Known about Persons with Intellectual Disability in Prisons in Australia
“There are many difficulties in making a diagnosis of ID [intellectual disability] in Indigenous people. It is important to note that tests used in the assessment of general intelligence are rarely culture-free and could have contributed to the over representation of Indigenous Australians among those considered to have an ID… Almost all IQ tests are culturally biased against minority groups, including Indigenous Australians…”.
4. Impact of Imprisonment on Indigenous Australians with Intellectual Disability and Their Health and Wellbeing
“Poorer coping mechanisms [of Indigenous prisoners with cognitive impairment], additional experiences of racism, difficulties handling emotions, discomfort around non-Aboriginal people and reduced access to culturally meaningful activities in custody…”.
5. Suggestions and Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Senate Community Affairs References Committee’s List of 32 Recommendations (November 2016)
- better intervention and support services;
- expanded Community Visitor’s schemes;
- improved witness support services to people with disabilities;
- creation of an assessment protocol that assists police, courts, and correctional institutions in identifying people with disabilities. Where identified, a trained officer will provide support;
- transparent, effective and culturally appropriate complaints handling procedures;
- training for police, lawyers and others in justice in needs of people with disability; and
- where a person who has been found unfit to plead is to be held in detention, demonstrate that all reasonable steps have been taken to avoid this outcome, and that person must be held in a place of therapeutic service delivery.
- the implementation requirements for supported decision-making;
- investigating the potential for the United Kingdom system of registered intermediaries; and
- the indefinite detention of people with cognitive impairment or psychiatric disabilities.
- increased funding for community visitor schemes, with consideration these schemes be professionalised in all jurisdictions and with a mandatory reporting requirement for suspected violence, abuse or neglect; and
- greater crossover in oversight and complaints mechanisms between aged care and disability.
- public advocate and guardianship functions are separate to ensure independent oversight;
- mandatory training on supported decision-making for guardians;
- that service delivery organisations or accommodation providers are never given guardianship;
- automatic increased oversight where service delivery organisations or accommodation providers recommend families lose guardianship; and
- that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ particular circumstances are taken into account in developing guardianship systems.
- The committee recommends that the Law, Crime and Community Safety Council (LCCSC) endorse and adopt the National Principles at its earliest opportunity.
- to review existing early intervention programs for people with cognitive and/or psychiatric impairment; and
- develop and implement programs which engage with people with cognitive impairment at the youngest appropriate age.
- Police and ambulance officers are provided with appropriate frontline training to recognise and respond to situations involving cognitive or psychiatric impairment issues.
- Police and ambulance officers are provided with specialist resources, such as state-wide 24/7 access to mental health teams to provide immediate advice during first response incidents.
- Increased funding for health transport to ensure that police resources are not used to transport people for mental health assessments.
- appropriate ‘risk of harm’ levels are set for assessments that can result in detention for the purposes of therapeutic intervention;
- mandated requirements for ‘least restrictive’ treatment;
- regular reviews, including assessment of treatment against therapeutic benchmarks; and
- independent oversight.
References
- Government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). 2017. Human Rights Act 2004. A2004-5. Republication No. 12 Effective: 2 March 2017. Available online: http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/2004-5/current/pdf/2004-5.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Alan, Janine, Melinda Burmas, David Preen, and Jon Pfaff. 2011. Inpatient hospital use in the first year after release from prison: A Western Australian population-based record linkage study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 35: 264–69. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Alexander, Regi, Avinash Hiremath, Verity Chester, Fatima Green, Ignatius Gunaratna, and Sudeep Hoare. 2011. Evaluation of treatment outcomes from a medium secure unit for people with intellectual disability. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities 5: 22–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2010. Australian Social Trends, March 2010. Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Mar+2010 (accessed on 10 July 2017).
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2017a. 4430.0—Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2015: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with Disability; Released 20 April; Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Commonwealth Government of Australia. Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/4430.0Main+Features802015?OpenDocument (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2017b. Prisoners in Australia—2016. Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/bySubject/4517.0~2016~MainFeatures~Keyfindings~1 (accessed on 7 April 2017).
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2017c. 4512.0—Corrective Services, Australia, March Quarter 2017. Summary of Findings Persons in Corrective Services, Released 8 June 2017. Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/4512.0Main+Features1March%20quarter%202017?OpenDocument (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2017d. 4517.0—Prisoners in Australia, 2016. Available online: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/4517.02016?OpenDocument (accessed on 6 April 2017).
- Australian Geographic. 2011. DNA Confirms Aboriginal Culture One of Earth’s Oldest. September 23. Available online: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-oldest/ (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Australian Human Rights Commission. 2014. Equal before the Law: Towards Disability Justice Strategies; Canberra: AHRC. Available online: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/2014_Equal_Before_the_Law.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Australian Human Rights Commission (Australian Government). 2017. About Constitutional Recognition. Available online: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/about-constitutional-recognition (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2015. The Health of Australia’s Prisoners; Cat. No. PHE 207; Canberra: AIHW. Available online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129553682 (accessed on 10 July 2017).
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2017. National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) 2016 Key Findings. Available online: http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/ndshs-2016/key-findings/ (accessed on 10 July 2017).
- Australian Law Reform Commission (Australian Government). 2014. Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws (Final Report). August. Available online: https://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/publications/alrc_124_whole_pdf_file.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Balaratnasingam, Sivasankaran, and Meera Roy. 2015. Intellectual disability in Indigenous Australians: Issues and challenges. Australian Psychiatry 23: 641–43. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Baldry, Eileen, and Chris Cunneen. 2014. Imprisoned Indigenous women and the shadow of colonial patriarch. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 47: 275–98. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Baldry, Eileen, Leanne Dowse, and Melissa Clarence. 2012. People with Intellectual Disability in the Criminal Justice System; NSW Family and Community Services, Ageing, Disability and Home Care; Sydney: University of New South Wales. Available online: https://www.adhc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0003/264054/Intellectual_and_cognitive_disability_in_criminal_justice_system.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Bhandari, Abhishta, Kate van Dooren, Eastgate Gillian, Lennox Nicholas, and Stuart A. Kinner. 2014. Comparison of social circumstances, substance use and substance-related harm in soon-to-be-released prisoners with and without intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 59: 571–79. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Bhaumik, Sabyasachi, Reza Kiani, Dasari Mohan Michael, Shweta Gangavati, Sayeed Khan, Julio Torales, Kenneth R. Javate, and Antonio Ventriglio. 2016. Intellectual disability and mental health: An overview. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health 9: 417–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Blagg, Harry. 2008. Crime, Aboriginality and the Decolonization of Justice. Leichardt: Hawkins Press. [Google Scholar]
- Boer, Harm, Regi Alexander, John Devapriam, Julio Torales, Roger Ng, Joao Castaldelli-Maia, and Antonio Ventriglio. 2016. Prisoner mental health care for people with intellectual disability. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health 9: 442–46. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Branco, Jorge. 2013. Aboriginal Stolen Wages Lawsuit ‘as Important as Mabo’ to Go National. September 13. Available online: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/aboriginal-stolen-wages-lawsuit-as-important-as-mabo-to-go-national-20160913-grexm8.html (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Brennan, Bridget. 2017. Indigenous Leaders Enraged as Advisory Board Referendum Is Rejected by Malcolm Turnbull. ABC News (Online), October 27. Available online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-27/indigenous-leaders-enraged-by-pms-referendum-rejection/9090762 (accessed on 6 December 2017).
- Brolan, Claire E., Robert S. Ware, Miriam Taylor Gomez, and Nicholas G. Lennox. 2011. The right to health of Australians with intellectual disability. Australian Journal of Human Rights 17: 1–32. [Google Scholar]
- Clare, Isabel H., and Gisli H. Gudjonsson. 1993. Interrogative suggestibility, confabulation, and acquiescence in people with mild learning difficulties (Mental handicap): Implications for reliability during police interrogation. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 32: 295–301. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Cockram, Judith. 2005. Justice or differential treatment? Sentencing of offenders with an intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability 30: 3–13. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- United Nations. 2006. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). New York: United Nations. [Google Scholar]
- Cunneen, Chris, Eileen Baldry, David Brown, Mark Brown, Melanie Schwartz, and Alex Steel. 2013. Penal culture and hyper incarceration: The revival of the prison. In Penal Culture: Transmission, Normalisation and Reproduction. Edited by Nelken D. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited. [Google Scholar]
- Dias, Shannon, Robert S. Ware, Stuart A. Kinner, and Nicholas G. Lennox. 2013. Physical health outcomes in prisoners with intellectual disability: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 57: 1191–96. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Dias, Shannon, Robert S. Ware, Stuart A. Kinner, and Nicholas G. Lennox. 2014. Co-occuring mental disorder and intellectual disability in a large sample of Australian prisoners. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 47: 938–44. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Dolan, Kate, Suzy Teutsch, Nicolas Scheuer, Michael Levy, William Rawlinson, John Kaldor, Andrew Lloyd, and Paul Haber. 2010. Incidence and risk for acute hepatitis C infection during imprisonment in Australia. European Journal of Epidemiology 25: 143–48. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Durand, Eric, Mathilde Chevignard, A. Ruet, A. Dereix, C. Jourdan, and Pascale Pradat-Diehl. 2017. History of traumatic brain injury in prison populations: A systematic review. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 60: 95–101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Einat, Tomer, and Amela Einat. 2008. Learning disabilities and delinquency: A study of Israeli prison mates. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 52: 416–34. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Fazel, Seena, Kiriakos Xenitidis, and John Powell. 2008. The prevalence of intellectual disabilities among 12,000 prisoners—A systematic review. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 31: 369–73. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Frize, M., D. Kenny, and C. Lennings. 2008. The relationship between intellectual disability, Indigenous status and risk of reoffending in juvenile offenders on community orders. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 52: 510–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Gale, Peter. 2016. Rights, responsibilities, and resistance: Legal discourse and intervention legislation in the Northern Territory in Australia. Semiotica 209: 167–85. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Goodna, Mick, and Graeme Innes. 2014. Jailed without Conviction: Send Rosie Anne Fulton Home. The Guardian (Australian Edition) (Online). March 14. Available online: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/14/jailed-without-conviction-send-rosie-anne-fulton-home (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Government of Victoria. 2006. Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act. Act No. 43/2006. Available online: http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241ecf1b7ca256e92000e23be/54D73763EF9DCA36CA2571B6002428B0/$FILE/06-043a.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Hassiotis, Angela, Dina Gazizova, Leah Akinlonu, Paul Bebbington, Howard Meltzer, and Andre Strydom. 2011. Psychiatric morbidity in prisoners with ID: Analysis of prison survey data for England and Wales. The British Journal of Psychiatry 199: 156–57. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Haysom, Leigh, Devon Indig, Elizabeth Moore, and Cadeyrn Gaskin. 2014. Intellectual disability in young people in custody in New South Wales, Australia—Prevalence and markers. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 58: 1004–14. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Hellenbach, Mike, Thanos Karatzias, and Michael Brown. 2017. Intellectual Disabilities among Prisoners: Prevalence and Mental and Physical Health Comorbidities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities 30: 230–41. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Holcombe, Sarah. 2015. The contingency of ‘rights’: Locating a global discourse in Aboriginal Central Australia. Australian Journal of Anthropology 26: 211–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Holland, Shasta, and Peter Persson. 2007. Intellectual Disability in the Victorian Prison System—Characteristics of Prisoners with an Intellectual Disability Released from Prison in 2003–2006; Melbourne: Department of Justice. Available online: https://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/corrections/resources/0423a0c6-958e-4847-904a-61032a59a7d9/intellectual_disability_in_the_victorian_prison_system.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. 1997. Bringing Them Home: National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Commonwealth of Australia. Available online: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/social_justice/bringing_them_home_report.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Human Rights Law Centre. 2016. Queensland Commits to a Human Rights Act. November 16. Available online: https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/queensland-commits-to-a-human-rights-act (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). 1966. Adopted and Opened for Signature, Ratification and Accession by General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 Entry into Force 23 March 1976, in Accordance with Article 49. Available online: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Indig, Devon, Elizabeth McEntyre, Jude Page, and Bronwen Ross. 2010. 2009 Inmate Health Survey: Aboriginal Health Report; Sydney: Justice Health. Available online: http://www.justicehealth.nsw.gov.au/publications/inmate-health-survey-aboriginal-health-report.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Kite, Elaine, and Carol Davy. 2015. Using Indigenist and Indigenous methodologies to connect to deeper understandings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ quality of life. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 26: 191–94. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Lee, Taryn. 2016. The rights granted to indigenous peoples under international law: An effective means for redressing historical wrongs? International Community Law Review 18: 53–71. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Maddison, Sarah. 2013. Indigenous identity, ‘authenticity’ and the structural violence of settler colonialism. Identities-Global Studies 20: 288–303. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Maddocks, Tom. 2016. Rosie Ann Fulton: System Has ‘Failed’ Intellectually Impaired Indigenous Woman. ABC News (Online), July 1. Available online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-01/carer-says-system-has-failed-rosie-fulton/7560532 (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Männynsalo, Laura, Hanna Putkonen, Nina Lindberg, and Irma Kotilainen. 2009. Forensic psychiatric perspective on criminality associated with intellectual disability: A nationwide register-based study. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 53: 279–88. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Maxwell, Yvonne, Andrew Day, and Sharon Casey. 2013. Understanding the needs of vulnerable prisoners: The role of social and emotional wellbeing. International Journal of Prisoner Health 9: 57–67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Mazel, Odette. 2016. Self-determination and the right to health: Australian aboriginal community controlled health services. Human Rights Law Review 16: 323–55. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McBrien, Judith. 2003. The intellectually disabled offender: Methodological problems in identification. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities 16: 95–105. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McGaughey, Fiona, Tamara Tulich, and Harry Blagg. 2017. UN decision on Marlon Noble case: Imprisonment of an Aboriginal man with intellectual disability found unfit to stand trial in Western Australia. Alternative Law Journal 42: 67–70. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McGrath, Pam, and Emma Phillips. 2008. Aboriginal spiritual perspectives: Research findings relevant to end-of-lifecare. Illness Crisis and Loss 16: 153–71. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Morgan, Neil. 2016. Western Australia’s Prison Capacity. Perth: Western Australia. Available online: http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/WebCMS/WebCMS.nsf/resources/file-tp---oics-wa-prison-capacity/$file/OICS%20WA%20Prison%20Capacity.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party. 1989. A National Aboriginal Health Strategy. Canberra: National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party. [Google Scholar]
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council for the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference (NATSIHC). 2003. National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health: Context; Canberra: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council. Available online: https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/12B50420F5E0006DCA257BF000199D6C/$File/nsfatsihcont.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- National Human Rights Consultation Committee (NHRCC). 2009. National Human Rights Consultation Report. September. Available online: http://apo.org.au/system/files/19288/apo-nid19288-69096.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2009).
- O’Loughlin, Michael. 2009. A psychoanalytic exploration of collective trauma among Indigenous Australians and a suggestion for intervention. Australasian Psychiatry 17: S33–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Parker, Karen. 1989. Jus Cogens: Compelling the Law of Human Rights. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 12: 411–64. [Google Scholar]
- Parliament of Australia (Australian Government). 2009. Legal Issues—Australian Human Rights Framework: Budget Review 2010–11: Legal Issues and the Attorney-General’s Portfolio. Available online: http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/BudgetReview201011/LegalHumanRights#_edn3 (accessed on 2 September 2009).
- Parliament of Australia (Australian Government). 2015. Report: Violence, Abuse and Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings, Including the Gender and Age Related Dimensions, and the Particular Situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with Disability, and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse People with Disability. November 25. Available online: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Violence_abuse_neglect/Report (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Parliament of Australia (Australian Government). 2016. Report: Indefinite Detention of People with Cognitive and Psychiatric Impairment in Australia. November 29. Available online: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/IndefiniteDetention45/Report (accessed on 1 September 2017).
- Queensland Government. 2014. Daily Life in Prison. November 19. Available online: https://www.qld.gov.au/law/sentencing-prisons-and-probation/prisons-and-detention-centres/daily-life-in-prison (accessed on 10 July 2017).
- Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland Government. 2016. Annual Report 2015–2016; Brisbane: Queensland Government.
- Referendum Council. 2017. Uluru—National Convention. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Peoples from Across Australia Make Historic Statement (23–26 May 2017). Available online: https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/event/first-nations-regional-dialogue-in-uluru (accessed on 6 December 2017).
- Rountree, Jennifer, and Addie Smith. 2016. Strength-based well-being indicators for indigenous children and families: A literature review of indigenous communities’ identified well-being indicators. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research 23: 206–20. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Roy, Meera, and Sivasankaran Balaratnasingam. 2014. Intellectual disability and indigenous Australians: An overview. Asia-Pacific Psychiatry 6: 363–72. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Schneider, Karen, Juliet Richters, Tony Butler, Lorraine Yap, Alun Richards, Luke Grant, Anthony Smith, and Basil Donovan. 2011. Psychological distress and experience of sexual and physical assault among Australian prisoners. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health 21: 333–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Shahid, Shaouli, Lizzie Finn, Dawn Bessarab, and Sandra C. Thompson. 2009. Understanding, beliefs and perspectives of Aboriginal people in Western Australia about cancer and its impact on access to cancer services. BMC Health Services Research 9: 132. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Shepherd, Stephane M., James R. P. Ogloff, Dan Shea, Jeffrey E. Pfeifer, and Yin Paradies. 2017. Aboriginal prisoner and cognitive impairment: The impact of dual disadvantage of Social and Emotional Wellbeing. Journal of Intellectual and Disability Research 61: 385–97. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Simpson, Jim. 2014. Participants or Just Policed? Guide to the Role of the NDIS—People with Intellectual Disability Who Have Contact with the Criminal Justice System. NSW Council for Intellectual Disability, NSW. Available online: http://www.nswcid.org.au/images/pdf/Participants_or_just_policed_614.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Simpson, Jim, and Mindy Sotiri. 2004. Criminal Justice and Indigenous People with Cognitive Disabilities: A Scoping Paper. A Discussion Paper Prepared for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services. Sydney: Beyond Bars Alliance. [Google Scholar]
- Sotiri, Mindy, Patrick McGee, and Eileen Baldry. 2012. No End in Sight: The Imprisonment and Indefinite Detention of Indigenous Australians with Cognitive Impairment. A Report Prepared by the Aboriginal Justice Disability Campaign. September. Available online: https://www.pwd.org.au/documents/pubs/adjc/NoEndinSight.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Steele, Linda Roslyn. 2016a. Indefinite Detention of People with Cognitive and Psychiatric Impairment. Sydney: Australian Lawyers Alliance. Sydney: Australian Lawyers Alliance. [Google Scholar]
- Steele, Linda. 2016b. Disabling forensic mental healht detention: The carcerality of the disabled body. Punishment and Society 19: 327–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision. 2017. Report on Government Services 2017, Volume C, Justice; Canberra: Productivity Commission, vol. C. Available online: http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2017/justice/rogs-2017-volumec.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Stewart, John. 2014. Intellectual Impaired Aboriginal Woman Rosie Fulton to Be Freed after 21 Months in Jail with no Conviction. ABC News (Online), June 26. Available online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-25/aboriginal-woman-in-jail-without-conviction-to-be-freed/5550790 (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Stewart, Louise M., C. J. Henderson, Michael S. T. Hobbs, Susy C. Ridout, and Matthew W. Knuiman. 2004. Risk of death in prisoners after release from jail. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 28: 32–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- The SPRINT Project Team. 2013. Primary Health Care Services Better Meeting the Needs of Aboriginal Australians Transitioning from Prison to the Community: SPRINT Final Report. Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales. Available online: http://files.aphcri.anu.edu.au/reports/Lloyd.Full.Report.25.pdf (accessed on 27 August 2017).
- Tighe, Joe, Kathy McKay, and Myfanwy Maple. 2015. ‘I’m going to kill myself if you don’t…’: Contextual aspects of suicide in Australian Aboriginal communities. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health 8: 1–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- United Nations General Assembly. 1966. International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). New York: United Nations General Assembly. [Google Scholar]
- United Nations General Assembly. 2007. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: United Nations General Assembly. [Google Scholar]
- Vanny, Kathryn, Michael Levy, and Susan Hayes. 2008. People with an intellectual disability in the Australian criminal justice system. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 15: 261–71. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Victorian Office of Corrections. 1990. Standard Guidelines for Prison Facilities in Australia and New Zealand. Available online: http://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/corrections/resources/86bad68c-de78-44ef-b06f-20f4c7844e18/standard_guidelines_prison_facilities_1990small.pdf (accessed on 2 September 2017).
- Walters, Janice A. 2011. The psychological and social consequences of trauma and race relations on the Australian indigenous people. International Journal of the Humanities 9: 149–64. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yap, Mandy, and Eunice Yu. 2016. Operationalising the capability approach: Developing culturally relevant indicators of indigenous wellbeing—An Australian example. Oxford Development Studies 44: 315–31. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zillman, Stephanie. 2016. Indefinite Detention of Cognitively and Mentally Impaired People Inquiry Labelled ‘Predictable’. ABC News (Online), April 10. Available online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-10/unfit-to-plead-in-the-nt-inquiry-labelled-predictable/7314268 (accessed on 27 August 2017).
State or Territory | Indigenous Prisoners | All Prisoners | Percent Indigenous |
---|---|---|---|
New South Wales | 3037 | 12,629 | 24.0 |
Queensland | 2461 | 7746 | 31.8 |
Victoria | 535 | 6522 | 8.2 |
Western Australia | 2403 | 6329 | 38.0 |
South Australia | 571 | 2948 | 19.4 |
Northern Territory | 1393 | 1666 | 83.6 |
Tasmania | 92 | 569 | 16.2 |
Australian Capital Territory | 105 | 441 | 23.8 |
State or Territory | 2005 | 2015 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prisoners | Percent Female | Population | Prisoners | Percent Female | Population | |
New South Wales | 9706 | 7 | 6.77 million | 11,797 | 7 | 7.62 million |
Victoria | 3692 | 7 | 5.02 million | 6219 | 7 | 5.94 million |
Queensland | 5354 | 7 | 3.96 million | 7318 | 10 | 4.78 million |
Western Australia | 3482 | 8 | 2.01 million | 5555 | 9 | 2.59 million |
South Australia | 1473 | 6 | 1.54 million | 2732 | 6 | 1.70 million |
Tasmania | 551 | 5 | 485,300 | 519 | 6 | 516,600 |
Australian Capital Territory | 162 | 5 | 325,200 | 396 | 4 | 390,700 |
Northern Territory | 820 | 3 | 202,800 | 1593 | 9 | 244,300 |
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Brolan, C.E.; Harley, D. Indigenous Australians, Intellectual Disability and Incarceration: A Confluence of Rights Violations. Laws 2018, 7, 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws7010007
Brolan CE, Harley D. Indigenous Australians, Intellectual Disability and Incarceration: A Confluence of Rights Violations. Laws. 2018; 7(1):7. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws7010007
Chicago/Turabian StyleBrolan, Claire E., and David Harley. 2018. "Indigenous Australians, Intellectual Disability and Incarceration: A Confluence of Rights Violations" Laws 7, no. 1: 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws7010007