RECOMMENDATION 1
Where a person, who is, or was at a relevant time, a member of an Aboriginal community, is convicted of an offence, in determining the sentence, the court shall have regard to any evidence concerning the customary laws of that Aboriginal community, and the customary laws of any other Aboriginal community of which the victim was a member at a relevant time.
RECOMMENDATION 2
Pilot schemes for Circle Sentencing and adult conferencing should be instituted in consultation and collaboration with Aboriginal communities.
RECOMMENDATION 3
The Department of Corrective Services should establish a mentoring program for young adult offenders based on the Young Offenders’ Mentoring Program conducted for juvenile offenders by the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Crime Prevention Division of the Attorney General’s Department.
RECOMMENDATION 4
A pilot program based on the Pitjantjatjara community service program in South Australia should be established in New South Wales in consultation and collaboration with the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council.
RECOMMENDATION 5
The Department of Corrective Services should establish more Attendance Centres in rural areas.
RECOMMENDATION 6
Courts should have the power to order that participation in approved community-based, personal development programs may be credited towards Community Service Orders.
RECOMMENDATION 7
The following statistical information about Aboriginal offenders, with breakdown into gender categories, should be compiled and published at regular intervals:
- the numbers coming into the criminal justice system;
- the numbers being convicted of a criminal offence;
- a breakdown into types of offences for which a conviction is entered;
- a breakdown into types and lengths of sentences given; and
- the numbers in all correctional centres.
RECOMMENDATION 8
Programs to raise awareness in the judiciary, and all others involved in the sentencing process, of cross-cultural issues should include a component dealing specifically with Aboriginal women offenders. Among other things, such programs should focus on increasing awareness and understanding of:
- the circumstances surrounding the offences committed by Aboriginal women, including their historical and current social contexts;
- the role which Aboriginal women play within the family and community;
- the potential for Aboriginal women to suffer from both racism and sexism; and
- the impact of imprisonment upon women and their families.
RECOMMENDATION 9
The Department of Corrective Services should give consideration to accommodating women serving short sentences at minimum security correctional centres rather than at Mulawa Correctional Centre.
RECOMMENDATION 10
The Department of Corrective Services should institute Mothers’ and Children’s Programs at all correctional centres accommodating women.
RECOMMENDATION 11
In accordance with the recommendation contained in its report, Women’s Action Plan – A Three Year Strategy for Female Inmates in NSW Correctional Centres, the Department of Corrective Services should construct additional transitional centres for female inmates in regions of greatest need, and expand the eligibility criteria for all centres.
RECOMMENDATION 12
A multi-purpose community cultural centre should be trialled in a regional area with a significant Aboriginal population. In addition to serving a variety of community needs, the centre should organise and co-ordinate programs satisfying community service orders.
