25 per cent less Indigenous youth in NSW police custody, new data reveals

The news that less Indigenous kids are being place into police custody paves way for “cautious optimism” regarding the over-represented criminal demographic. But what’s behind the fall?

An indigenous flag in front of signs of First Nations people who have died in custody is seen during a Black Death in Custody Rally. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Welcome new statistics show the number of Northern Rivers Indigenous youth in custody was dropping dramatically.

A new NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) report revealed a 25 per cent reduction in Indigenous youth in custody in NSW from 2015 to 2019.

The average dropped from 161 per day to 121, with falls in the number of Indigenous youth (those aged 10-17) in remand and sentenced custody both contributing to the decline.

Executive Director of BOCSAR, Jackie Fitzgerald welcomed the reduction of Indigenous children in detention, noting that positive trends for Aboriginal people were “all too rare” in criminal justice.

“The result allows for cautious optimism that Aboriginal over-representation in custody can be shifted. Unfortunately, despite improvements, we still have a long way to go. Aboriginal young people currently make up 40 per cent of young people in detention, so the issue remains significant,” she said.

According to the report, two key factors contributed to the downward trend.

The first was a reduction in the number of Indigenous youth charged by police and appearing in court.

Between 2015 and 2019, the number of Indigenous children proceeded against to court by police declined by 361 persons and there was also a substantial reductions in break and enter, property damage and traffic offences.

Secondly, a decline in Indigenous youth sentenced to a custodial order went down by almost half with a 183 person decline during that period.

This was due in part to the reduced volume of Indigenous youth in court and the proportion of convicted youth receiving a custodial sentence.

Traditionally, Indigenous youth find themselves over represented in court.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2020) reported that in the June quarter of 2019, the incarceration rate for Aboriginal young people (aged between 10 and 17 years) in New South Wales (NSW) was 19.7 per 10,000 persons, which was 20 times higher than the rate for non-Aboriginal young people.