QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator McCARTHY (Northern Territory—Minister for Indigenous Australians) (14:30): I thank Senator Thorpe for the question. There are way too many deaths in custody, not just of Indigenous people but of all people. Unfortunately it continues in terms of the incarceration rates.

I have certainly worked on this. I know that there has been a committee of the Senate, and I welcome that Senate inquiry currently underway into the justice reinvestment programs that we are rolling out across the country. At the Commonwealth level, we see that our part in all of this, knowing that the states and territories are the ones responsible for the jailing of any citizen, is to push out the justice reinvestment programs.

There are justice reinvestment programs—over 30—that are running out all across the country. We know that there are, in places like the Northern Territory, success in those. In places like Groote Eylandt, for example, where I know the inquiry has visited, we are having success.

That success only comes when local people and First Nations people are at the table to ensure that there is support for First Nations people so that they don't go into jails. It's a long road; it's a very difficult one. And I do call on the states and territories to work harder in this space and to certainly work with us as we try to reduce the numbers of Aboriginal people in custody.

The PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, first supplementary?