@poopajoop @DClay49 I have seen generation after generation…

@poopajoop @DClay49 We have had a RC we have had the 12 year close the gap failure and we have the Australian Law Reform Commission report and may other studies & enquires none of these recommend cashless welfare cards.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The staggering over-representation of Indigenous people in prison was the focus of the Australian Law Reform Commission report Pathways to Justice – Inquiry into the Incarceration Rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The report was delivered to the federal attorney-general in December 2017. 3 years later, the government has yet to touch the surface with the recommendations.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The inquiry recommend?
2 key recommendations involved “justice reinvestment”.

Justice reinvestment is a strategy for reducing the number of people in prison by investing funds drawn from the corrections budget into early intervention,..

@poopajoop @DClay49 prevention and diversionary solutions in communities where many prisoners come from and return to.

Justice reinvestment involves working with a community to design local solutions to overcome the drivers of crime and incarceration.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The inquiry recommended an independent justice reinvestment body be set up with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership. This would provide technical expertise and promote the reinvestment of resources from the criminal justice system into community-based initiatives.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The inquiry also recommended that governments support justice reinvestment trials in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

@poopajoop @DClay49 This would include allowing access to local criminal justice data, supporting local justice reinvestment initiatives and facilitating participation and coordination between relevant government departments and agencies.

@poopajoop @DClay49 A small number of community-led justice reinvestment trials are taking place throughout Australia. There is widespread support for further advancing justice reinvestment.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Evidence shows justice reinvestment has already worked.

The Maranguka Justice Reinvestment project in Bourke, New South Wales, is the most developed community-based trial. The Bourke Tribal Council, assisted by Just Reinvest NSW, directs and guides Maranguka.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The project is building a safer and stronger community. This has led to significant reductions in crime and reoffending. From 2016 to 2017, the Bourke community experienced a:

@poopajoop @DClay49 23% reduction in police-recorded incidents of domestic violence

14% reduction in bail breaches for adults

42% reduction in days
spent in custody for adults

@poopajoop @DClay49 31% increase in year 12 student retention rates

38% reduction in charges across the top five juvenile offence categories.

@poopajoop @DClay49 A KPMG impact assessment found the Maranguka project achieved savings of A$3.1 million in 2017. Two-thirds of that relates to the criminal justice system and one-third is the broader economic impact in the region.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The financial impact of the project was about five times greater than its operational costs. If Bourke is able to sustain just half the 2017 results, an additional gross impact of A$7 million over the next five years could be achieved.

@poopajoop @DClay49 The financial impact of the project is about five times greater than its operational costs. If Bourke is able to sustain just half the 2017 results, an additional gross impact of A$7 million over the next five years could be achieved.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Justice reinvestment offers a solution. The message is clear: solutions to reduce Indigenous imprisonment need to be community-designed and driven, with government support.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Research has found a large portion of prisoners come from and return to a small number of inadequately resourced neighbourhoods and communities.
https://t.co/mqbGzAMdFD

@poopajoop @DClay49 It is well known that prisons are filled with people who are disproportionately disadvantaged and who have unmet social, health and disability-related needs.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Research has also shown that prison does not reduce crime. It actually perpetuates cycles of poverty, disadvantage and reoffending.
https://t.co/wNkKigqpKs

@poopajoop @DClay49 It costs almost over $300 a day to keep an adult in prison. The average cost of locking up a young person is almost five times that amount.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-incarceration cost the Australian economy an estimated A$7.9 billion in 2016. These costs are expected to grow to A$9.7 billion in 2020 and A$19.8 billion by 2040, if we continue on the same trajectory.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Australia cannot afford the social, health and economic costs of over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

@poopajoop @DClay49 Strong, healthy and connected communities are the most effective way to prevent crime and make communities safer. Justice reinvestment & not cashless welfare cards offers a pathway to achieve this.

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@poopajoop @DClay49 @threadreaderapp in please