The McGowan Government acknowledges the importance of addressing Aboriginal over-representation in the justice system and will consider developing a new Aboriginal Justice Agreement in light of discussions with the Commonwealth and existing state strategies. They are prioritising a whole-of-government response and existing initiatives to work with Aboriginal communities.

AnsweredQoN 1710Legislative Council
Asked
18 October 2018
Portfolio
Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to recommendation 16–2 of the Australian Law Reform Commission
Report, Pathways to Justice ,
regarding the development of Aboriginal Justice Agreements, and I ask: (a) does the McGowan Government support the redevelopment of a Western
Australian Aboriginal Justice Agreement; (b) if yes to (a): (i) when will a new agreement be developed; and (ii) which organisations or individuals will be involved in the development
of the agreement; and (c) if no to (a), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
22 November 2018
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Attorney General
Response time
9 days
We acknowledge the development and implementation of the Aboriginal Justice Agreement model is a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, 1991.
The Commonwealth recently published a Report of the Review into the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission.
The McGowan Government will be working with the Commonwealth on the appropriate strategies to ensure the recommendation of this report are implemented and aligned with the State’s own strategies to address is the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the justice system.
The development a new Aboriginal Justice Agreement will be considered in light of these current discussions.
Further, the McGowan government has prioritised a whole of government response to actively reduce the incarceration of Aboriginal people in prison. This effort involves strategic policy setting and coordinated frontline service delivery.
Existing initiates to work cooperatively with Aboriginal people and communities to understand issues impacting on their engagement with the justice system include:

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more