There can be little that isn't shameful about how Australia's indigenous population has been treated since the arrival of the white man - and the appalling position they still find themselves in 2011.
An all-party Federal Parliamentary Committee released a Report on the plight of the aboriginal community last week - as op-ed columnist Mike Carlton deals takes up in his latest column in the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Last Monday night, a report with the rather clunky title of Doing Time - Time for Doing: Indigenous Youth in the Criminal Justice System was tabled in Federal Parliament.
Its contents were anything but clunky. They were horrifying. Aboriginal Australians are being thrown into prison at a greater rate than ever before, in every state and territory. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of black males in custody increased by 55 per cent, and the number of black females by 47 per cent.
Far too many of them were and are kids. The report found that: "The detention rate for indigenous juveniles is 397 per 100,000, which is 28 times higher than the rate for non-indigenous juveniles (14 per 100,000). In 2007, indigenous juveniles accounted for 59 per cent of the total juvenile detention population."
And it gets worse. To quote again:
Aboriginal Australians make up about 2.5 per cent of the national population, but 25 per cent of the prison population.
Indigenous juveniles make up 53 per cent of all juveniles in detention.
Twenty-two per cent of indigenous juveniles in detention were 14 or younger, compared with 14 per cent of non-indigenous juveniles.
NSW has the highest total number of indigenous people in prison: 2139.
Western Australia has the highest number per capita: at least three indigenous people in jail for every 100 state residents.
In case you're wondering, this report was not the work of a bunch of bleeding-heart lefties. It was compiled by an all-party committee of MPs - Labor, Liberal, the lot - who agreed unanimously that "this situation is a national disgrace" and that "all governments, including the Commonwealth, states and territories, have failed to adequately address this problem".
An all-party Federal Parliamentary Committee released a Report on the plight of the aboriginal community last week - as op-ed columnist Mike Carlton deals takes up in his latest column in the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Last Monday night, a report with the rather clunky title of Doing Time - Time for Doing: Indigenous Youth in the Criminal Justice System was tabled in Federal Parliament.
Its contents were anything but clunky. They were horrifying. Aboriginal Australians are being thrown into prison at a greater rate than ever before, in every state and territory. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of black males in custody increased by 55 per cent, and the number of black females by 47 per cent.
Far too many of them were and are kids. The report found that: "The detention rate for indigenous juveniles is 397 per 100,000, which is 28 times higher than the rate for non-indigenous juveniles (14 per 100,000). In 2007, indigenous juveniles accounted for 59 per cent of the total juvenile detention population."
And it gets worse. To quote again:
Aboriginal Australians make up about 2.5 per cent of the national population, but 25 per cent of the prison population.
Indigenous juveniles make up 53 per cent of all juveniles in detention.
Twenty-two per cent of indigenous juveniles in detention were 14 or younger, compared with 14 per cent of non-indigenous juveniles.
NSW has the highest total number of indigenous people in prison: 2139.
Western Australia has the highest number per capita: at least three indigenous people in jail for every 100 state residents.
In case you're wondering, this report was not the work of a bunch of bleeding-heart lefties. It was compiled by an all-party committee of MPs - Labor, Liberal, the lot - who agreed unanimously that "this situation is a national disgrace" and that "all governments, including the Commonwealth, states and territories, have failed to adequately address this problem".
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