Assessment Task 2 of 4

Health: Question 1

Discuss the impact of colonialism on Aboriginal people’s health. Use relevant examples and statistical data to support your response.

Colonialism had a detrimental impact on the health of Aboriginal peoples as the imposition of the European way of life largely interrupted the Aboriginal hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Prior to colonialism and European contact, Aboriginal populations were “very healthy, they were active, they were physical” according to the Deputy Chairperson of the Mornington Island Health Council, Sarah Isaacs. Aboriginal peoples, such as the Lardil, led healthy lifestyles eating a balanced and nutritious diet which varied geographically.

The establishment of fixed settlements and the loss of traditional lands during colonialism marginalised Aboriginal peoples, consequently resulting in poor nutrition as natural resources were lost to pollution or destruction from European agriculture. Direct conflict and occupation of Aboriginal land by settlers and colonisers heightened Aboriginal mortality as the Aboriginal people’s ability to live healthy lives was compromised. The cycle of dispossession and demoralisation onset by colonialism continued to result in poor health outcomes for Aboriginal people.

In addition, a number of the native flora and fauna species utilised as food sources by Aboriginal people began to dwindle during colonialism. Consequently, the natural food habits and living patterns of the Aboriginal peoples changed. This was the case for the Lardil people living on Mornington Island where many of the local Aboriginal people began to abuse alcohol, as their core practice of hunting dugongs and dolphins was hindered. Much of the knowledge Aboriginal people had accumulated about bush foods and medicine was lost, resulting in the lower life expectancy of Aboriginal people today; according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Aboriginal men on average live 11.5 years less than other Australian men. Colonialism was consequential in relation to diet, as less nutritious foods became part of the Aboriginal people’s diet. Many of these foods contained sugars and fats which led to other health problems; addictive substances like sugar and tobacco were detrimental for Aboriginal people, and the consequences still exist today as the Australian Bureau of statistics reports that 50% of the Indigenous population are daily smokers, contributing to a higher prevalence of lung and throat cancers amongst Aboriginal peoples.

Colonialism brought about the introduction of diseases and epidemics, such as small pox, tuberculosis, influenza and measles, which Aboriginal people had no immunity against. Consequently, the populations of the Lardil on Mornington Island declined due to the poor health associated with colonialism.

Lifestyle-related diseases Aboriginal people had not experienced before also became more prevalent, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease as well as low birth weights for Aboriginal infants. These negative health trends exponentially worsened after colonialism, as the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded the Indigenous infant mortality rate is 2.8 times higher than the overall Australian rate. Further to this, the Australian Bureau of statistics also documented diabetes is between two and four times more common among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples than among other Australians as

“about six out of every 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (or 6%) reported diabetes or high sugar levels (HSL) as a long-term health condition”, which can be attributed to the profound damage colonialism caused to Aboriginal health.

The breakdown of traditional systems during colonisation and post colonialism, as influenced by colonial authorities and missionaries, subsequently reduced the Lardil on Mornington Island to be dependent on unreliable fly-in doctor services: “Each new doctor we’ve got to explain…why we’re here and what our condition is”, explained by Lardil community member Lou Lou. This is indicative of the somewhat untrustworthy relationship established by colonialism between Aboriginal peoples and medical services. A study conducted by The Australian McInman Research Centre found that 16.1% of the 55 Aboriginal participants had difficulty understanding medical services receptionists, and a further 23.3% had difficulty communicating with doctors; therefore their health is directly compromised.

Moreover, the dislocation of Aboriginal peoples resulted in poor housing conditions, leading to poor hygiene and instances of overcrowding in sub-standard housing. This is evidenced by the establishment of reserves in the least desirable regions of towns, such as on flood plains, which were not suitable for any type of housing development. For example, colonialism disallowed the traditional Lardil movements between camps, thus they significantly suffered illnesses associated with poor hygiene and waste build up, such as hepatitis and gastroenteritis.

Thus the health status of Aboriginal people worsened as social factors like poverty, limited access to health services, technology, education, employment and low income, as a consequence of colonisation, culminated to create barriers which today are still exacerbating Aboriginal health, demonstrated by the substantially lower life expectancy of Aboriginal people and the increased likelihood of Aboriginal peoples to die from cardiovascular disease at a much younger age than normal.

Furthermore, colonialism brought about an increasing amount of mental health issues for Aboriginal people with the aftermath of the Stolen Generations and the forced separation of Aboriginal children from their families. The Lardil’s health went into disarray as Aboriginal children were placed in dormitories and cultural maintenance could no longer occur. This one of the deeply rooted causes of the poor health of the Lardil today, as well as a contributor to the high rate of suicide on Mornington Island; in 2000 five young Lardil men killed themselves in the space of two months (ABC local radio archive).

It is clear that colonialism has overwhelmingly impacted Aboriginal people’s health in a negative way, optimised by the example of the Lardil community on Mornington Island.

Health: Question 2

What social and political changes are necessary to improve Aboriginal and other Indigenous people’s health standards? In your response refer to both an Australian Indigenous community

and an International community.

There are many social and political changes which are necessary for the improvement of the health standards of Aboriginal people and other Indigenous people’s such as the Maori of Auckland, New Zealand.

A critical social change for the improvement of Aboriginal health is the regaining of land and the strengthening of support networks for Aboriginal people to continue cultural maintenance practices.

The Mornington Shire Council has been attempting to establish a Site Management Plan in communion with local Aboriginal rangers to protect sacred places which are threatened by environmental issues such as erosion, as well as the proposed transport of minerals from the Gulf; these events have prevented the Lardil from accessing ‘story places’ which are of significant importance to their spirituality and cultural maintenance, and therefore, their overall health and wellbeing.

As there hasn’t been a single effort by the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage to protect these sites in order to promote cultural maintenance, the regaining of Aboriginal land and improved Aboriginal health standards on a holistic level, an effective social and political change would be for the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage to collaborate with the Mornington Shire Council in creating and applying the Site Management Plan the community has been requesting. This political change is paramount to achieving higher standards of health for Aboriginal people, especially the Lardil, as Lardil residents have articulated the significance of the emotional and mental health benefits of cultural maintenance: “Our bodies must keep doing the dances and living in the bush, and making the artefacts that keep our skills alive. These things are what we need to keep the head and the body together”, as said by Lardil community member Larry Lanley.

Implementing Site Management Plans in conjunction with Aboriginal community consultation would further enable the Lardil to utilise traditional bush medicines and employ traditional healing practices, as sacred sites such which are associated with cultural knowledge could be used to improve the health standards of Aboriginal people, exemplified by the Lardil’s use of salt water pans and white clay to heal snake bites.

Successful land claims in Aboriginal communities have made an impact on the cultural and spiritual life of these communities, and have subsequently influenced Aboriginal health, as regaining land provides Aboriginal people with the opportunity to access nutritional food and bush medicines. In the community of Kungkayunti, Northern Territory, the Aboriginal people maintained “lower rates of diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, hospitalisation and death” since they could partake in cultural maintenance, in comparison to similar Aboriginal communities which were forced to source food from government stores (Morice RD. Woman dancing dreaming). Therefore, one of the most significant political changes required for the improvement of Aboriginal health standards is the returning of lands which come under native title; the current back log and slow processing of native

title claims should be addressed at a federal level, as allowing Aboriginal peoples to return to their subsistence economic base results in increased health standards. Thus, this political change would allow the enjoyment of better health standards by Aboriginal people including the Lardil of Mornington Island, as parts of the Wellesley islands are threatened.

Furthermore, another change which is essential for the improvement of Aboriginal health standards is the remodelling of health care services. The accessibility of quality health care and culturally appropriate treatments, especially in rural Aboriginal communities, is essential for the effectiveness of medical actions. Government run services and policies however cannot always provide solutions that effectively mitigate the consequences of Aboriginal disadvantage, which subsequently enables the worsening of Aboriginal health standards.

Therefore, a social change required for enhancing Aboriginal health is the establishment of more community imposed and managed health programs. For instance, the ‘Townsville Mums and Babies’ program and the Mornington Island ‘Young Mother’s Program’ have recorded declines in low birth weight and pre term births as well as an increased attendance of antenatal care. These programs have worked successfully within Aboriginal communities due to the employment of Aboriginal health professionals, such as the Mornington Aboriginal Health Team, and the utilisation of early prevention strategies which involved the communities in planning and delivery; the core paradigms of these programs should be applied to all national, state and local programs addressing Aboriginal health issues.

Moreover, another social change vital for the improvement of Aboriginal health standards is the broadening of recruitments and training of Aboriginal Health practitioners. This would irrefutably advance the capacity of the health system in rural and urban areas to work effectively across cultures, which the current mainstream system struggles to do. This would resolve issues such as the unreliability of fly in doctor services experienced on Mornington Island, as the availability of more Aboriginal Health Workers would allow for greater permanency of health professionals.

Currently, the Close the Gap policy has established ‘Tackling Indigenous Smoking Teams’ in 57 regions nationwide. This includes the implementation of 344 full time health workers who work in Aboriginal communities at a grass roots level to “develop local programs that empower and support community members to quit (smoking)”. Programs such as this should serve as a model for the creation of other programs which could provide primary and secondary health care addressing all of the major determinants of Aboriginal mortality in Australia. The skills of Aboriginal Health workers shouldn’t be restricted to combatting smoking alone, but should be deployed across health issues such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. Diabetes and coronary heart disease are extremely prevalent in remote Aboriginal communities that are socioeconomically disadvantaged including Mornington Island where 7.8% of Lardil adults self-reported having diabetes (CNWQML and Healthy Futures Australia). If the medical services active on Mornington Island incorporated the visitation of a ‘Tackling Indigenous Diabetes Team’ a solid foundation would be created for the improvement of health standards amongst the Lardil.

In continuation, a political change which is a prerequisite to improving Aboriginal health standards is the implementation of culturally safe assessments and appropriate interventions, such as community development interventions. Interventions which promote the empowerment of Aboriginal communities must be included as part of an overarching strategy to reduce health

inequities amongst the Aboriginal populace; Aboriginal people need to be given the power to make decisions which relate to their own health by the government. Currently, the infant mortality rate for Aboriginal children is 8 infants per 1000 births. Social changes which could effectively address this poor health standard include implementing sensitive screenings of communities to identify their needs and introduce treatments before minor health problems escalate; this would include a community-based and client-centred approach, as opposed to the current health centre-focused model. Subsequently, issues such as the absence of full-time qualified child health workers in Aboriginal communities or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Centres would be resolved, resulting in better health standards for Aboriginal people from an earlier age. For this to be achieved, constructive dialogue between government agencies, public health professionals and most importantly, Indigenous communities, needs to occur, which it currently doesn’t on the scale that it should. Aboriginal people in Australia will not be able to liberate themselves from the circumstances of disadvantage they find themselves in, and the poor health standards they are restricted to, until a political structure is built to protect and enrich their self-determination.

Likewise, Aboriginal health issues should no longer be addressed at a superficial level, as deep running contextual issues such as poverty, poor housing, low income, low employment and poor education heighten the incidence of preventable diseases such as trachoma; the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that currently 50% of Aboriginal communities in very remote areas had ‘endemic rates’ of trachoma, therefore supporting the need for a more holistic and all-encompassing approach to Aboriginal health to be established. This should include the involvement of Aboriginal elders in grass roots health campaigns. For example, the doctors who were part of the Fred Hollows trachoma program knew how to solve medical problems but didn’t possess the skills to solve the social issues. Aboriginal people provided the valuable connection and authority within the Aboriginal communities the trachoma program visited. Aboriginal people took the initiative to physically precede the medical team in order to secure community cooperation; doctors worked together with Aboriginal people and continually sought their advice.

In order for Aboriginal health standards to improve, a dichotomous system which incorporates standard health professionals as well as Aboriginal community representatives and Aboriginal knowledge needs to be founded in places such as Mornington Island, where a mistrust of the mainstream health care system exists. This would build a rapport between Aboriginal peoples and doctors, effectually improving health outcomes.

The regaining of land and the continuation of cultural maintenance are similarly important for the improvement of health standards for the Maori of Auckland, New Zealand. The health of Maori people is greatly determined by their interaction with the environment, as the Auckland Maori view the natural environment as the foundation of their existence. Regaining land and being able to live on traditional land is profoundly beneficial for the mental and emotional health of the Auckland Maori. For example, a core concept of the cultural Maori worldview is ‘finding a place to stand’, which is expressed through forming relationships to places; feeling connected to home provides empowerment. Thus, not allowing the Maori people to regain or maintain land is to the detriment of the Maori’s overall wellbeing, and so a social change which needs to occur is the increased access to traditional lands for Maori communities.

Further to this, Maori languages also express the values and beliefs of the people and is a focal point of their cultural identities. These concepts are difficult for mainstream health services to understand and accommodate for, and thus, social changes are required.

Living on traditional land, known as paptuanuku to the Auckland Maori, is extremely significant for their standards of health, as the Maori value four holistic aspects of health, collectively called te whare tapa wha, which are: spiritual health, psychological health, physical health and social health. Acknowledgement within mainstream health services of these facets of Maori spirituality is required in order for the health standards of the Maori to improve. This social change could be sustained by increasing the amount of Maori medical staff being recruited and trained with both conventional medical degrees and training in traditional Maori practices. Maori people currently represent only 3.1% of New Zealand’s doctors, highlighting the need for university pathways for Auckland Maori students to be re-evaluated, in order for Maori health standards to be advanced internally.

Traditional rongoa healers should also be given a role within mainstream health services, including hospitals, as for many Maori the major deficiency in the modern health system is the spiritual dimeson; this could be achieved through increased dialogue between the Ministry of Health and the National body of Traditional Maori Healers. Service quality within mainstream hospitals could be improved for Maori patients as traditional healing is largely individualised, and if traditional healing is governmentally supported outside of the mainstream health system, then geographical and financial barriers preventing the Auckland Maori from accessing primary health care would also be addressed, improving the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, and diabetes, which is the largest cause of mortality for older Maori.

In continuation, an additional social change required is the greater investment in and development of health programs that place whanau (extended family) and wellbeing at the centre of health work. This, in conjunction with the adoption of the Te Reo Maori language in community health facilities, would provide a culturally appropriate health service to the Maori people. For instance, maintaining traditional language and using it to converse in community settings such as the maraes, allows Maori patients to openly discuss their personal lives, and in turn receive greater medical support. This social change of adopting Maori language and focusing on family as an integral part of Maori health would assist in addressing the high rate of hospitalisation for Maori infants due to respiratory infections, onset by poor housing conditions; 20% of Maori live in overcrowded housing conditions, and one in five Maori hospital admissions are for the treatment of infectious diseases from household overcrowding like pneumonia, meningococcal and tuberculosis (University of Otago Wellington).

By distributing health information materials written in Maori language outside of medical institutions, but within maraes and Maori community hubs, negative health trends related to low socioeconomic status could be curved in a culturally relevant way.

An example of ‘whanau focused’ health programs implemented in Auckland are the Turanganui-a-kiwa Community Injury Prevention Project which saw the use of seatbelts by Maori children increase from 10% to 74%, the SIDS Prevention Program, the Tipu Ora Child Care Program and the Te Awaroa Lifestyles Program. Enhancing the administration of these programs is a critical social change necessary for the advancement of Auckland Maori health standards, as the current mainstream

health system neglects the significance of cultural protocols such as meeting with patients alongside family members.

Significantly, the low socioeconomic status of the Maori also needs to be addressed more seriously, as it is a key determinant of Maori health standards; 16.2% of Maori adults are unemployed (Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation) disallowing for expenditure on health related products and services. Developments in Maori employment opportunities needs to be a governmental priority as part of a political change, as improving the employment rate of the Maori population would inadvertently benefit Maori health standards.

To conclude a number of significant political and social changes are necessary for the improvement of Aboriginal people and other Indigenous people’s health standards.

Criminal Justice: Question 1

Discuss the impact of colonialism since the 1960’s on Aboriginal people over representation in the criminal justice system. Use relevant examples and statistical data to support your response.

Colonialism had a momentous impact on Aboriginal people’s over representation in the criminal justice system, including the Wiradjuri in Central West New South Wales. Historically, attitudes between Aboriginal people and authorities have been tense, which has subsequently led to Aboriginal people being overrepresented in the criminal justice system today; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are 15 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous Australians (2014 Social Justice and Native Title report).

This overrepresentation in police custody, court appearances and within prisons is a direct consequence of the imposition of an alien system of law enforcement during colonialism, which conflicted with traditional systems of punishment. The imposition of foreign law resulted in the over representation of Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system due to the many cultural differences between Aboriginal people, such as The Wiradjuri, and non-Aboriginal people in regards to dispute resolution. For example, the Wiradjuri people favoured communal emotional processes to deal with crimes, in accordance with customary law, whilst the European system favoured hierarchal and controlled processes.

The introduction of a ‘Protector’ on Erambie mission during colonialism, at the request of the white residents living in Cowra, exemplified the colonisers biased discourse, as they were convinced of their own superiority and right to enforce the law. This largely prohibited cultural compromises between Aboriginal peoples and the Europeans, resulting in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system and a mistrust of police on behalf of Aboriginal peoples. This hostile relationship established during colonialism is still present today, as many Aboriginal offenders report police discrimination; Aboriginal people are 15 times more likely to be charged for swearing or offensive behaviour than the rest of the community and 17.3 times more likely to be arrested than non-Indigenous people in general (Australian Human Rights Commission). As a consequence of this hostile relationship founded in colonialism, Aboriginal communities have been over policed contributing to their over representation in court appearances.

Consequently, Aboriginal people such as the Wiradjuri have been marginalised from the rest of society, and their freedoms were strictly controlled by white authorities during colonialism and government policies thereafter. The institutionalised racism which accompanied colonialism generated a cycle of generational problems, optimised in the breakdown of Aboriginal communities during the Stolen Generations; emotional damage from being forcibly removed in turn lead Aboriginal peoples to perpetrate violence, self-harm, abuse substances and engage in anti-social behaviour, contributing to greater contact with the criminal justice system. As a result of these implications from colonialism, Aboriginal people made up a quarter of the prison population in 2009 (Australian Bureau of Statistics) despite only accounting for less than 3% of the population.

These generational problems including high unemployment, low educational achievement and low levels of income, culminated in the over representation of Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system, as Aboriginal family life was destroyed and Aboriginal people lost their identities, leading to ‘criminal’ behaviours; many Wiradjuri children were institutionalised during

colonialism and up until the 1970’s, placed in institutions such as Cootamundra Girls Training Home, resulting in over representation within the criminal justice system due to the behaviours triggered by emotional trauma and loss of heritage. In 1995, approximately one in ten Aboriginal people over the age of twenty four had been removed from their families as children, and this age group experienced extremely high arrest rates, as 80% of Aboriginal prisoners in NSW were directly affected by the removal policies existing from colonialism (The Australian). Similarly, half of the Aboriginal deaths in custody investigated by the 1987 Royal Commission involved Aboriginal people who had been removed from their family as a child, or arrested for a criminal offence before the age of fifteen, indicating the impacts of colonialism and the fundamental breakdown of Aboriginal social structure in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system as offenders and victims.

These cyclical problems incited by colonialism and worsened by the implications of social disadvantage have contributed to an alarming over representation of Aboriginal juveniles in detention since the 1960’s as Indigenous youth are incarcerated at a rate 28 times higher than non-Indigenous juveniles (L. Brown Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system). Due to the ramifications of colonialism in regard to Aboriginal people’s poor education outcomes and lack of understanding of the western court system, Aboriginal people have been entrapped and not accommodated by the courts, as bail requirements are mostly unattainable for Aboriginal offenders in rural locations contributing to the overrepresentation of Wiradjuri peoples in the criminal justice system.

Thus, colonialism since the 1960’s and even prior has had clear and distinctive impacts on the over representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system, exemplified by the Wiradjuri people in Central West New South Wales.

Criminal Justice: Question 2

What social and political changes are necessary to address the over representation of Aboriginal people and other Indigenous people in the criminal justice system?

There are numerous social and political changes that are necessary to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people and other Indigenous peoples, such as the Oglala Lakota, in the criminal justice system. It is equally important for social and political changes to look at the steps which led to Indigenous people becoming entrapped in the criminal justice system as well as strategies to reduce Indigenous contact with the criminal justice system.

A needed social change to reduce the overrepresentation of the Wiradjuri people and other Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system is the education of police in relation to cultural awareness, as the police are the starting point for involvement in the criminal justice system. Through the increased employment of Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers, police could gain a full understanding of language barriers, the frequency of gratuitous concurrence (where Aboriginal defendants say ‘yes’ in reply to questions during interrogation regardless if this answer is correct), cultural protocols such as Aboriginal defendants avoiding eye contact, which is often mistaken as defiance or guilt, as well as the significance of principles such as the Anungu Rules. Cultural awareness programs and involvement with Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers should be mandated as prerequisites for police entering the force, in order to curve police discretion against Aboriginal people in over policing, provoking Aboriginal people and handing down charges for minor offences. This social change would adjust the attitudes of police who typically take a harsh stance on crime, as motivated by politicians who adopt this view during elections; the development of understanding the circumstances that surround crimes committed by Aboriginal people would decrease Aboriginal over representation.

Furthermore, Aboriginal people such as the Wiradjuri must be empowered through self-determination and reconciliation. Programs run by the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council and the Cowra PCYC facilitate the strengthening of relationships between the Wiradjuri and the police in the local community. This is the beginning of a broader social change which is necessary to reduce the over representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. The misrepresentation of Aboriginal people in the public, especially by the media, needs to shift away from being negative, in order for a genuine commitment to reconciliation to be made by the Australian public. The targeted recruitment and training of Wiradjuri police officers would incite self-determination and Aboriginal autonomy in addressing criminal justice issues, allowing Wiradjuri involvement in policing decisions such as the management of the Cowra ‘Night Patrol’.

Moreover, as recommended by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in custody, a change that is necessary to address higher rates of Aboriginal arrests is using arrest as a last resort considering “the highest over –representation of Aboriginal people in police custody is in the area of public order offences where police discretion is the greatest determinant of who will be detained or arrested and what they will be charged with” (Cunneen). This is reflective of the fact that the authority of individual police officers plays a major role in the sentencing of Aboriginal people, which in many cases is socially unjust and therefore ‘arrest as a last resort’ is a rule which should be actively deployed.

Similarly, another political change required to reduce the interaction of Aboriginal people with all three levels of the criminal justice system is the creation of cohesiveness between state laws and council laws. Whilst public drunkenness has been decriminalised in most states, a number of Aboriginal people are taken in to custody for drinking in public due to inconsistencies in council jurisdiction by laws, creating a disproportionate representation of Aboriginal people in the court system.

Alternatives to police custody is an additional social change, which goes hand in hand with decriminalising public drunkenness, as instead of Aboriginal people being brought into police custody if they are in a bad state, dry out rooms, sobering up shelters or facilities which are separate from the criminal justice system could be utilised. These facilities would need to be non-custodial alternatives in order for them to effectively reduce Aboriginal overrepresentation. This social change would be successful in reducing the overrepresentation of Wiradjuri people in contact with the criminal justice system, as community consultations are already taking place with police and the Cowra Aboriginal community, and therefore the foundations of trust between the Wiradjuri and the authorities would allow for such facilities to be effectively run by the community without interference.

Additionally, educational programs need to be put into place for Aboriginal people interacting with the courts in relation to bail conditions and rights, as Aboriginal people are incarcerated at a higher rate due to the fact that Aboriginal people are often not informed they can they can apply for bail. On the flip side, judicial officials must make progressive changes to practices and procedures relating to bail, as prison should be used a last resort in favour of community service where applicable. This would reduce recidivism as community service allows for the involvement of the Aboriginal community in supervising the offender. Alternatives sentencing options for Aboriginal people such as the Wiradjuri should also be strengthened and broadened in order to reduce barriers between Aboriginal communities and the court system, to make culturally appropriate sentencing options accessible to a larger number of Aboriginal people and to promote greater participation of Aboriginal offenders and victims in sentencing. Circle Sentencing, conferencing and Koori Courts which have been trialled throughout New South Wales, should be widely established across Central West New South Wales; this would allow the Wiradjuri community to hold the key to changing attitudes and providing solutions, especially in regards to the growing imprisonments of Aboriginal juveniles and women. This would alleviate the power relations of the past and promote a dual system of policing, allowing for the adherence of customary law as well. Where alternative sentencing like circle sentencing is not applicable to the crime that has been committed, a social change which could still ensure the establishment of a positive relationship between the Wiradjuri community and the courts could be allowing local Wiradjuri elders to hand down the court sentence or police cautions; it is much more discouraging for a young Aboriginal offender to face a respected elder from the community, whose opinion would resonate more, in comparison to a stranger.

Furthermore, a political change which would address Aboriginal overrepresentation in the courts and police custody is the banning of offensive language by Aboriginal people against police as grounds for arrest, which was a recommendation made by the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council. Protocols during sentencing should also be subject to change as Aboriginality should be made a relevant factor in court sentencing in accordance with the Fernando Principles. This would allow for Wiradjuri defendants to be granted leniency in relation to time in order to properly prepare a

defence with an Aboriginal Legal Services Representative. Factors such as transport, homelessness and unemployment exacerbate the barriers preventing Aboriginal people from meeting bail conditions, thus, the courts should recognise the Aboriginality of offenders to understand their socioeconomic circumstances, resulting in fairer sentencing and a decline in Aboriginal overrepresentation in prisons.

A political change could further be the governmental recognition of customary law within the judicial system, as this would allow customary law punishments or values to be structured into court orders or in some cases, would allow for the complete explanation of an offence, thereby addressing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in contact with the criminal justice system. This would too prevent Wiradjuri offenders to be punished twice, once by the courts and once by the community.

Moreover, social and political changes should not just be made to the criminal justice system itself, but should be made within the wider community. For instance, in the same way that regaining land and cultural maintenance increases Aboriginal health, it also has positive effects in relation to diverting Aboriginal people from engaging in criminal behaviours. For instance, the regaining of land for the Wiradjuri to establish the Murrumbidgee market gardens, where they had been periodically dislocated from has effectively prevented many Wiradjuri people from coming into contact with the criminal justice system as offenders, as the community in that region became united in a successful community initiative which improved their socioeconomic status.

Likewise, an important social change to address the overrepresentation of Oglala Lakota in contact with the criminal justice system is renewed investment for culturally appropriate programs specific to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Currently, programs and strategies such as the Women’s shelter, Emergency Youth Shelters, The Kiyuksa O'Tipi Reintegration Centre, Victims Assistance in Indian Country, Pine Ridge Social Services and the Oglala Lakota Court Appointed Special Advocate Program either do not receive adequate funding from the government or receive no funding at all. The Oglala Lakota Court Appointed Special Advocate Program makes recommendations to the courts concerning the welfare of the Oglala Lakota children, however due to a lack of resources are unable to help hundreds more Oglala Lakota children who require their help. Therefore, the protection of Oglala Lakota children on Pine Ridge Reservation within the criminal justice system should be prioritised on a national level and instigate a political change, as effectively protecting American Indian children as victims has the potential to prevent them from becoming offenders in the future, breaking the cyclical occurrence of Lakota imprisonment and overrepresentation.

In addition, social change is needed to address the current lifestyle of dependency and inequality for Oglala Lakota in all areas of social, economic and political status. The federal project managed by the US Department of Justice & Department of Housing and Urban Development prevents violent crimes and drug offences in public and federally assisted housing, however, it does not address low education levels, low income rates and low employment rates which are the root causes of violent crimes and over representation of the Lakota in the criminal justice system. Therefore, local, state and federal US governments need to engage with tribal governments, corporations and communities in order to collectively address issues of disadvantage; this has not been happening recently due to a political shift away from focusing on American Indian issues in favour of concerns relating to African American and Latino populations.

Increased involvement of the Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge Reservation would allow for the development of criminal justice policies and programs which directly address their needs and accommodate to their socioeconomic circumstances, subsequently preventing the 21% incarceration rates of American Indians in South Dakota from increasing.

It is imperative that social and political changes addressing Lakota overrepresentation in the criminal justice system do not just focus on social justice issues such as health, education, income and employment, which are all determinants of interactions with the criminal justice system, but also human rights issues such as sexual assault; 34% of Native American women will be raped during their lifetime (Tjaden, P. & Thonennes. 2000), increasing Lakota interaction with the courts and police as victims.

Also, 96% of American Indian respondents who’d been a victim of rape in a 2006 study also reported experiencing other physical abuse (Saylors, K., Daliparthy, N. 2006). Therefore, in order to reduce Oglala Lakota over representation in the criminal justice system as victims, the lack of protection in place for Lakota women on Pine Ridge Reservation needs to be addressed. The social connotations attached to Native American sexual assaults, such as the perception that only domestic violence takes place in these Oglala Lakota communities, needs to be publicly challenged, not only by Indian spokespersons such as from AIM, but by the government, as According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, at least 70% of the violent victimisations experienced by American Indians are committed by persons of a different race.

It is irrefutably clear that there are a range of various political and social changes that are necessary to address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples and other Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system.