Friday, 22 January 2010
Commissioner Calma said the Social Justice Report 2009 focussed on: justice reinvestment to reduce Indigenous over-representation in the criminal justice system; protection of Indigenous languages; and sustaining Aboriginal homeland communities.
“Nationally, Indigenous adults are 13 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous people and Indigenous juveniles are 28 times more likely to be placed in juvenile detention than their non-Indigenous counterparts,” Commissioner Calma said.
“I have been advocating for some time now for Australian governments to consider a tried and tested approach known as ‘justice reinvestment’, which diverts a portion of the funds planned to be spent on imprisonment to local communities where there is a high concentration of offenders.
“The money that would have been spent on imprisonment is reinvested in programs and services in communities where these issues are most acute, in order to address the underlying causes of crime in those communities.”
“Indigenous languages are critically endangered and they continue to die out at a rapid rate,” he said.
“Prior to colonisation, Australia had 250 distinct languages which expanded out to 600 dialects. Today only 18 Indigenous languages are fully intact – and even these are endangered.
“Without intervention, Indigenous language knowledge will cease to exist in Australia in the next 10 to 30 years.
“Without targeted action and cooperation from the state and territory governments, we will see Indigenous languages continue to die out.”
Commissioner Calma said the Report was also vital reading for anyone interested in the perilous state of Indigenous languages in Australia.
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/Social_Justice/sj_report/sjreport09/community_guide.html
