imprisonment

Hepatitis C is three times higher and rising in Indigenous populations. The worsening problem is mainly due to higher rates of unsafe drug injecting and possibly higher rates of incarceration, where the prevalence of intravenous drug use is much higher among Indigenous prisoners, according to multiple studies. First Nations people need accessible and affordable health care and Community Controlled Health Services have proven time and time again to be the best model for treatment, Lisa Briggs, CEO of Naccho said. [node:read-more:link]

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last month show a 10 percent jump in the number of people in Australian prisons, bringing the prison population to a 10 year high.

The Human Rights Law Centre’s Senior Lawyer, Ruth Barson, said the trend of locking up more and more people is alarming, particularly given there are cheaper and more effective ways to keep the community safe. [node:read-more:link]

A new report says Mental health services for Aboriginal Australians are "both inadequate and inappropriate", and immediate changes are needed to address growing rates of suicide, depression and other mental health issues among Indigenous youth. The report also highlighted several shortcomings in efforts to improve mental health among Indigenous Australians and cited "dramatic" increases in recent years in Indigenous rates of youth suicide, anxiety and depression and other related illnesses. [node:read-more:link]

As protesters rallied in Perth, South Hedland and Geraldton to demand answers over the death of a 22-year-old Aboriginal woman in police custody in August.
Charmaine Green, who attended the rally in Geraldton announced that a 31-year-old Aboriginal man has died in a Perth prison. An internal police investigation is underway into Ms Dhu's death but their are calls for an independent inquiry as well as strategies to help avoid deaths in custody. [node:read-more:link]

As elections loom in Victoria and New South Wales, their governments' focus on tough law-and-order policies and prison populations are beyond capacity, but reports state that the crime statistics in these states are falling. A lot of people will shrug their shoulders and wonder what the fuss is about. People who commit crimes go to prison and this makes the community safer. What they fail to consider is the very real downside: a bigger drain on the public purse and a bad social outcome. [node:read-more:link]