ROYAL COMM ISSION INTO ABORIGINAL I N CUSTODY QUEENSILAND GOVERNMENT PROQ:^Fl,:-JS REPORT G11ZG'L 1996/97 The Progress Report is compiled from responses as supplied by Queensland Government Agencies. Produced by the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development, Queensland The State of Queensland ( Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development ) ( 1998) ISBN 0724283072. Copyright protects this publication . Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development. Inquiries should be addressed to: Copyright Officer, Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development, Contents Foreword by the Minister . ..................................... i itor's Preface ............................................ I Part 1: Executive Summary ..................................... 1 Case Studies ............................................. 23 Part 2: Achievements and Goals ................................ 36 Part 3: Statistical Profile ............................... 63 Part 4: Underlying Issues 4a: Aboriginal Women and Families .............................................. 71 4b: Aboriginal Society Today (R.48-R.57) ........................................... 74 4c: Self-determination and Local Government (R.77-R.78 & R.88-R.204) ....................... 84 4d: Accommodating Difference (R.58-R.59 & R.205-R.213) ................................ 97 4e: Coping with Alcohol and Other Drugs (R.63-R.71) .................................. 103 4f: Strategies for Change (R.272-R.288) ........................................... 105 4g: Towards Better Health (R.246-R.271) ................. 107 4h: Housing and Infrastructure (R.73-R.76 & R.321-R.327) ............................... 109 4i: Increasing Economic Opportunity (R.300-R.320) .................................... 114 4j: Addressing Land Needs (R.334-R.338) .......................................... 131 4k: Educating for the Future (R.289-R.299) Schooling (R.72) ............................. 133 41: The Process of Reconciliation (R.339) .......................................... 138 Contents Contents Part 5: The Criminal Justice System 5a: Post-death Investigations (R.6-R.40) ........................................... 140 5b: Relations with Police (R.60-R.61) ............................................. 143 5c: Aboriginal People and the Police (R.214-R.233) ................................... 145 5d: Diversion from Police Custody (R.79-R.91) ....................................... 153 5e: Custodial Health and Safety (R.122-R.167) ....................................... 155 5f: Imprisonment as a Last Resort (R.92-R.121) ..................................... 160 5g: Breaking the Cycle: Aboriginal Youth (R.234-R.245) ................................. 164 5h: Young Aboriginal People and the Juvenile Justice System (R.62) ........................ 165 5i: The Prison Experience (R.168-R.187) ........................................... 169 Implementation Table ....................................... 172 Acronyms .............................................. 250 APPENDIX RCIADIC Recommendations .......................... ..........1 Index to Recommendations .................................... 75 Contents Foreword by the Minister This Report details the progress the Queensland Government has made during the 1996 -97 financial year in implementing the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). As at 30 June 1997, 163 of the Recommendations were implemented, an increase of 33 since June 1996. During the period covered by this Report, the Queensland Government took two important steps in meeting the spirit of the Royal Commission's Recommendations. In May 1997, Parliament voted to affirm its commitment to the process of Reconciliation. In June of that year, Parliament acknowledged the suffering caused to Indigenous people and their communities by policies which had removed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. This Report describes the Queensland Government's efforts to meet the letter of the Royal Commission's Recommendations. It describes the many programs which have addressed the continuing problem of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's over-representation in the criminal justice system and the underlying causes of contact with that system. Immediately after the period with which this Report is concerned, Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers with responsibility for justice, policing, corrective services and Indigenous affairs, along with representatives of Indigenous communities, met to examine issues relating to the implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. As a result of that meeting's deliberations, the Queensland Government is coordinating a collaborative across-government approach to the development of an Indigenous Justice and Underlying Issues Agreement to address the significant over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. The Queensland Government anticipates that this Agreement will substantially enhance the implementation of these Recommendations. Judith Spence MLA Minister for Aboriginal and 'Torres Strait Islander Policy i Editor's Preface This Report documents the Queensland Government's efforts to implement the Recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). The period covered by this Report is July 1996 to June 1997. This Report uses the term 'Indigenous' to refer exclusively to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Part One of the Report, 'Executive Summary', contains brief statements of each Department's and Agency's actions during the period covered by this Report. Attached to Part One are case studies which document five of the Queensland Government's major initiatives in this field. Part Two lists the achievements of each Department and Agency during this period and their goals for 1997-8. Part Three contains a number of statistical profiles of issues central to the implementation of the Recommendations. Parts Four and Five examine groups of recommendations under headings derived from the original Royal Commission report. Part Four is concerned with Underlying Issues and includes a section on women and families. This is the first time that this section has been included in the Report. Part Five deals with the Criminal Justice System. This is followed by the Implementation Table, which deals in detail with each of the 339 Recommendations. The Report also contains an Appendix, which reproduces the Recommendations in their entirety. The following table summarises the status of the Recommendations as at June 1997 and indicates changes in status since June 1996. The definition of each status category is as follows: • 'Implemented' refers to recommendations which have been incorporated in legislation or operations manuals; • 'Ongoing' refers to recommendations which have no clear sunset condition; • 'Part Implemented' is applicable where only some agencies have implemented a procedure which applies to multiple agencies, or where agencies have not fully implemented a recommendation; and • 'Imminent' indicates that it is expected that a recommendation will be implemented prior to the release of the next report. Status of the 339 Recommendations 1995-96 1996-97 Implemented 130 163 Ongoing 76 79 Part Implemented 48 30 Imminent 22 4 Not supported 1a Not implemented 2 5b Other jurisdiction 60 57 a See Recommendation 273 See Recommendations 79, 81, 85, 191, 329 This Preface outlines a number of the main activities of the Queensland government and its agencies during the period under review. The body of the Report contains details of these programs and initiatives. 1996-97 RCIADIC Implementation Report - Preface In acknowledgment of the report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families, in June 1997 the Queensland Parliament , on behalf of the people of Queensland, acknowledged the suffering caused to Indigenous people and their communities by policies which had removed Aboriginal and Torres Strait children from their families (see Part 2). In May 1997, Queensland Parliament passed a motion affirming its commitment to the ongoing process of Indigenous/non- Indigenous reconciliation (Part 41). All Queensland Government Departments and Agencies have implemented policies to further the cause of reconciliation . These include cross-cultural awareness training , in many cases delivered by Indigenous staff members of the Departments involved (see for example, Part 4d), and Education Queensland's Reconciliation Project for Secondary Schools in the Metropolitan Area (see Case Studies). The Premier has approved Equal Employment Opportunity targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of 2.4 percent across the Queensland Public Sector by the year 2000, and 2.4 percent across all salary levels by the year 2005 (Part 4i). Branches of several Departments have already attained these levels. Early in 1997, the Indigenous Advisory Council replaced the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Overview Committee and the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee as the State's peak advisory body on Indigenous issues. The Indigenous Advisory Council has broad terms of reference