Some prisoners must go free to stop outbreak
A SCAN of recent headlines about the Territory’s adult and youth justice systems paints the picture of systems that are simultaneously overwhelmed, unsafe and failing in their goal of rehabilitating people ahead of their return to the community.
Covid-19 outbreaks across many of the Territory’s prisons, news that a 10-year old child was detained at Don Dale before Christmas and recent revelations that Territory Police had used spit hoods for restraint on more than 25 occasions, including on a
12-year old child, are shocking.
If we take a step back, we can understand that many of the underlying factors that have led us to this point have been present for some time, and that current problems could have been avoided.
The Territory not only has the highest adult incarceration rate in Australia but also the highest reoffending rate. Fundamentally, this means the Territory locks up more people per capita than any other state or territory; and six out of every 10 people who exit prison return within two years. It is clear this is a failed system.
Things are even more concerning in the youth justice domain. More than five years since the horrors of Don Dale were put in the national spotlight, the question should be asked, “what has changed”. There are record numbers of children in youth detention due to the government’s regressive 2021 bail laws and reports of children being locked up in their cells for almost 24 hours a day. The recent detention of 10year-old boy, held on remand in Don Dale, exposed him to a facility that the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory deemed unfit for the accommodation, let alone rehabilitation, of children. Despite the Territory government committing to close it, it is instead expanding it.
As for the royal commission, the government’s acceptance of the 227 recommendations handed down in the 2017 final report – a blueprint for reform to support the humane and effective treatment of children and young people in contact with the justice system – should have been a watershed moment.
While some positive progress has been made, including the funding of programs such as Back on Track that provide pathways to divert young people away from the youth justice system, we are yet to see action on some of the most critical issues. This includes the closure of Don Dale and raising the age of criminal responsibility – an issue that most governments around the country continue to stall on.
The Territory’s prisons also continue to incarcerate a disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, many of whom experience an array of chronic health problems. This point is vital in understanding why the current
Covid-19 outbreaks in prisons are so concerning. Last month, more than half of the 600-plus prisoners at Alice Springs Correctional Centre had tested positive.
In Alice Springs’ youth prison, lockdowns have been implemented in an effort to stop the spread of the virus, and more recently more than a dozen young people and staff at Don Dale tested positive.
In 2019, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that 30 per cent of people admitted into prison across Australia reported a diagnosis of cancer, diabetes, asthma, arthritis or cardiovascular disease.
Coupled with low booster rates, this is very worrying.
The evidence is clear that booster shots are vital in protecting people from the Omicron variant and avoiding serious illness or worse, yet only 5 per cent of prisoners in the Alice Springs Correction Centre have had their third dose. The figure at Darwin Prison is 27 per cent, which still lags the overall booster average for the Top End.
Let us not forget that many of the public health measures to curb Covid, such as social distancing, are extremely challenging to implement in a prison environment without resorting to physically and mentally damaging practices of isolation and lockdowns.
This urgent problem requires an urgent response. Jesuit Social Services believes prisoners who have committed non-violent crimes should be exited without delay from prison and supported in
the community. This would be of particular benefit to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The current crisis presents an opportunity not only to implement this direction as a short-term response to the Covid situation, but also to rethink our justice systems more broadly. Prison should only be used as a last resort, and the primary goal of any effective justice system should be supporting people to address their underlying problems and lead healthy, safe and positive lives – which benefits us all.
Covid has exacerbated some of the fundamental flaws and challenges our justice systems have been dealing with; which in turn have been brought on by adopting approaches that are not evidence-based regarding what works best in helping people and communities flourish.
It’s not too late for the Territory to recommit to strong and effective justice systems that prioritise keeping people out of prison, and restorative justice approaches that hold people to account for their actions and help them turn their lives around. Implementing all of the royal commission’s recommendations should be a priority, and these should be complemented by the introduction of appropriate reforms in the adult system.
Not only though the current Covid crisis, but beyond, this will help us create the strong and cohesive communities of which we all want to be a part.
Prisoners who have committed nonviolent crimes should be exited without delay from prison and supported in the community.