Arabic version: بيانات نيو ساوث ويلز تكشف فجوة في التحويل للأطفال من السكان الأصليين
According to ABC News, Aboriginal children in NSW are 30 per cent less likely than non-Aboriginal children to receive a police court diversion, according to new research by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Under the NSW Young Offenders Act, police can use warnings, cautions or interventions for children alleged to have committed eligible offences, with the aim of reducing court contact and repeat offending. BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said the disparity remained even after considering alleged offence severity, prior contact with police and bail status. Aboriginal children were still about eight percentage points more likely to be proceeded against in court, she said.
The research described the overall disparity as concerning because the Act is intended in part to reduce Aboriginal children’s over-representation in the justice system. In an analysis of first police contact, 10 per cent of Aboriginal children faced a formal court proceeding, compared with 5 per cent of non-Aboriginal children. BOCSAR said 80 per cent of that difference could not be explained by the data.
The gap also increased with age. Aboriginal children aged 10 and 11 who dealt with police were nearly 15 per cent more likely to be taken to court than non-Aboriginal children, while the disparity reached 36 per cent by age 17. Fitzgerald said access to diversion was important as young people accumulated more contact with the youth justice system.
NSW Aboriginal Legal Service acting chief executive Sharif Deen said the gap could not be explained by another objective factor and called for increased independent oversight of NSW Police. Youth Crime Command Superintendent Phil Hallinan said police were trained to divert children where possible, but decisions also involved confidence that a child would not reoffend or pose a risk. He said the report did not find racial bias or systemic issues, and police would review it.
