NSW: Indigenous offenders to work on cattle farm instead of jail

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2009
NSW: Indigenous offenders to work on cattle farm instead of jail

EDS: Takes in ke Indigenous

By Britt Smith and Nick Ralston

SYDNEY, Aug 5 AAP - Young indigenous offenders could be sent to work on a cattle farm
in northern NSW instead of jail in an Australian first aimed at curbing incarceration
rates.

The property Balund-a, near Tabulam in the state's far north, will house up to 50 men
and women aged between 18-35 who would otherwise be sent to prison.

Corrective Services Minister John Robertson said he wanted to address the high indigenous
incarceration rates, with more than one in five inmates in NSW jails of Aboriginal descent.

At the same time, NSW auditor-general Peter Achterstraat has released an unrelated
report calling for an expansion of services for Aboriginal defendants in the judicial
system.

Mr Achterstraat said the percentage of Aboriginal people in the NSW prison system has
never been higher.

Mr Robertson said so far, 13 of the 14 would-be inmates who have spent time at Balund-a
have avoided time behind bars upon their return to court.

"Balund-a is unique because it allows magistrates to give young indigenous offenders
one last try at addressing the causes of their criminal behaviour before they are sentenced,"

Mr Robertson said in a statement.

"It is all about setting up the best possible chance for (them) to turn their lives
around before they enter the correctional system.

"If we can keep 50 young Aboriginal men and women in this region out of prison each
year and give them a chance to make something of their lives, then the program has been
a success."

The full name of the program is Bugilmah Burube Wullinje Balund-a, which translates
to "be good now you have second chance down by the river".

Mr Robertson said the program had a strong focus on cultural connection, literacy,
life skills, substance abuse treatment and rebuilding family and community relationships.

It is based on existing Aboriginal programs in prisons such as Yetta Dhinnakkal near
Brewarrina and Warakirri at Ivanhoe.

Residents can be referred to the farm from as far as Kempsey and Armidale, and areas
near the Queensland border.

The NSW government hopes the program will help reduce overall re-offending in the state
by 10 per cent by 2016.

Mr Achterstraat, in his report also released on Wednesday, has called for Aboriginal
defendants to have greater access to a drug rehabilitation program that has proven to
reduce the rate of re-offending.

He said the Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program had proven successful
but it was not available in a number of courts with a high proportion of Aboriginal defendants.

He said it was also usually aimed at those with illicit drug problems, whereas alcohol
abuse was a more prevalent problem among Aboriginal defendants.

NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos welcomed the recommendation to expand the MERIT
program and said he would examine them in consultation with the police and health ministers.

AAP nr/hn/mmr

KEYWORD: MERIT WRAP

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.