Helicopter Tjungurrayi, a well
known artist from Balgo, who will
travel with others from this east Kimberley desert community to attend an exhibition of their artworks in Japan. Photo: CAS

“There is a variety of gifts
but always the same Spirit;
There are all sorts of
service to be done,
But always to the same Lord;
Working in all sorts of
different ways in different people,
It is the same God
who is working
in all of them.”

[1Cor 12:4-6]

Issue 2, May 2010, Highlights:

Editorial - Juvenile Justice, an offence against society

A message of peace for us and the earth - Office of Justice, Ecology and Peace

Kimberley Collage - Broome Residential College

New Cathedral mover and shaker

Kimberley Volunteeers

Meeting for a Mission Moment ...

Justice Matters - How does your garden grow? GM and Western Australia

Year of the Priest - Icon and Prayer

Pilgrim Cross

School News - Gibb River

KCP Magazine

Editorial

Juvenile justice, an offence against society

The submission from the Australian Catholic Bishops, signed and tabled by Bishops Saunders (Broome) and Hurley (Darwin), to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Juvenile Justice was right on the money when it stated that the current bureaucratic models servicing Indigenous people are a disaster. Quite clearly the bureaucracy is taken up with the issue of service delivery when really, as the Bishops noted, the real concern must be about healing and restoring healthy human relationships.

On-going enquiries and reviews may give the impression of positive action, but to date they have not improved the plight of Indigenous youth who are 28 times more likely to be incarcerated than other groups in Australian society. Sadly, many of these young people are caught up in an endless cycle of crime, cops, courts and detention centres. Their prospects of bettering themselves are decidedly poor or non-existent.

Those found to be the most likely to be caught up in the juvenile justice system generally share a similar case study profile. They are from poor families, suffer less than average good health and healthy lifestyles, were notably malnourished at some time in their childhood, come from overcrowded houses, have weak literacy and numeracy skills, have a history of school truancy, are unemployed with poor prospects of employment, and are exposed to abusive behaviour and chemical addictions.

It is obvious that if the numbers of juvenile offenders in detention in the State are to decrease two things have to happen. Firstly, those social indicators that define the profile of young offenders need to be urgently addressed and conditions improved. Overcrowded accommodation, serious chemical addictions, abusive behaviour and poor health will need to be targeted with specifically designed campaigns to alter the presently frightful and unacceptable conditions in which so many people live on a daily basis. Education must become deliberately relevant and easily available to lower socio-economic groups, especially during the juvenile years. Literacy and numeracy skills must be increased among those who find school irrelevant and incompatible with their disturbed background. The education revolution needs a broader base line. Only then will employment opportunities come begging. This is, of course, a long term strategy.

Secondly, punishment and corrective sentencing by courts must use other means besides gaol or detention centres. ‘Back to Country’ and ‘cultural immersion’ programs based on Indigenous priorities and lore will afford greater hopes for change than ever will barbed wire and barred cells.

The provision of bail houses for Kimberley offenders in the larger towns and communities would provide a safe environment for those being processed through the system, but without the negative influences of detention centres. A greater reliance on supervised community service orders, delivered by competent service providers and community based organizations, will do much to assist in lowering the high instances of incarceration.

The statistics regarding juvenile detention are plainly shameful. And if they are not changed for the better then as a society we deserve to be ridiculed as backward and regressive. Such change is possible and it is needed now. We do not need any more reviews or inquiries. We know the problems and the challenges. We need to apply ourselves to the solutions urgently and with diligence.