Rave🌏🇦🇺

Research has found a large portion of prisoners come from and return to a small number of inadequately resourced neighbourhoods and communities in Australia. It is well known that prisons are filled with people who are disproportionately disadvantaged and who have unmet social, health and disability-related needs. And Research has shown that prison does not reduce crime. It actually perpetuates cycles of poverty, disadvantage and reoffending. We need to reduce recidivism through the provision of effective diversion, support and rehabilitation programs and not by building more prisons. The massive 140% increase in the Australian prison population over the last 30 years does not seem to be due to crime rates, which have mostly declined over the past generation. Instead, higher reporting rates, stricter policing practices, tougher sentencing laws, and more stringent bail laws appear to be the main drivers of Australia’s growing prison population. Western Australia holds the distinction of having the highest Indigenous jailing rate on earth.Aboriginal people in WA are incarcerated at a rate eight times greater than the jailing rate for black males in Apartheid South Africa . No jurisdiction in Australia - not even the ACT - jails black males at a rate less than the days of Apartheid South Africa. The solutions to reduce Indigenous imprisonment & close the gap will never be found in any of the prisons I managed or any private or public prison. The solutions need to be community-designed and driven, with government support.