Page 3848 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 19 September 2017
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The results for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, for example, showed that we needed to provide targeted support to this group. The 2017-18 budget does exactly that by funding an identified position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander through-care officer. This officer will help to ensure that assistance in transitioning from custody to the community is targeted and culturally appropriate.
With respect to the recidivism rate, the parliamentary agreement for the Ninth Legislative Assembly commits to reducing recidivism by 25 per cent by 2025. An approach for developing a long-term recidivism plan is currently being prepared to set a pathway for achieving recidivism targets for the justice system. These targets are being constructed in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders. The recidivism plan requires an understanding of what works, backed up by planning, innovation, efficiency and community engagement. The plan will need to be carefully balanced to ensure that public safety is maintained and further improved.
Reducing recidivism in the ACT requires shared responsibility across the justice system so that a change in one part of the justice system does not negatively impact another part of the justice system. By taking a balanced and shared approach to reducing recidivism, the targets can be not only achieved but also sustained. Reducing recidivism also requires the support of the human services system. We are already progressing a broad range of justice responses that address recidivism. Reducing crime and maintaining public safety is part of our core business. I would like to take a moment to outline a number of these current, and new, initiatives for the Assembly.
The initiatives include commitments embedded in our justice system such as restorative justice phases 1 and 2, facilitated victim and offender conferences for young people and adults for less serious and some serious offences at all points of the justice system; the Aboriginal justice partnership, a strategic partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body aimed at reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the justice system as victims and offenders; Aboriginal community justice programs, which are community-based programs aimed at reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders in the justice system; the Galambany circle court, which provides a culturally relevant sentencing option in the ACT Magistrates Court for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have offended; and the high density housing program, which is a multi-agency service facilitation initiative that works with high and complex needs residents on Ainslie Avenue to prevent or reduce opportunities for crime, develop pro-social and law abiding community engagement and facilitate access to justice, health, education and employment services.
Some additional, more recent, initiatives to reduce recidivism include justice reinvestment trials and initiatives such as the Yarrabi Bamirr trial, a community-based, family-centric service support model with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to improve life outcomes and reduce or prevent contact with the justice system; the development of a bail support trial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on remand and reduce the amount of time spent on remand; and also the development
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