Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry into the Incarceration Rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

This submission discusses the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) in our prison system, some of the reasons behind this and some measures that can be taken to possibly reduce this overwhelming figure. Aboriginal people have been arrested and imprisoned at an increased rate since the findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. There has also been no reduction in the numbers of Aboriginal people arrested and imprisoned for less serious offences. There is a focus in this submission on the offence of disorderly conduct and how this charge and other minor offences contribute to the rate of ATSI offending. An observation will be made on how the application of the law against disorderly conduct conflicts with the Rule of Law. My discussion will expand into a consideration on how the lack of alternatives to incarceration sees Indigenous people being over-represented in prison statistic, many only on relatively trivial charges. This submission is focussed only on the jurisdiction of Western Australia