CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr BURNELL (Spence) (10:09): Recently, I had the pleasure of welcoming Noah from the Northern Adelaide Senior College to my electorate office for work experience. During his time with us, I asked him to write a speech for me to present to parliament about something that he considers important. These are his words: There are many solutions to fix the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system… especially when it comes to the youth But to the citizens of Spence and Indigenous people, the Australian governments attention is needed to implement the 'Closing the Gap' Agreement for the First Nations youth of Australia Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system is a profound global crisis.

In Australia, first nations adults make up 3% of the population of the population but 37% of prison population. This means they are 15 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-indigenous people. Under the 'Closing the Gap' Agreement, the Australian government had committed itself to reducing the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people (10 to 17 years old) in detention by at least 30 per cent by 2031.

Progress has not been made from the original baseline figure from 2018. The rate of First Nations young people in detention on an average day was 29.8 in 2022 to 2023. This rate is above the 2022 trajectory point, meeting the national target of 22.3 per 10,000 by 2031.

To stop the overrepresentation of Indigenous youths in Australia requires systematic reform. The government should shift some of their funding and focus away from building more prisons and redirect the money into different community programs for reform and a place to address the root causes of crime. The focus should also be shifted to increasing the number of diversionary programs to keep indigenous children out of the youth justice system early.

Across Australia, I believe that we should raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 to 15 years old. This is to stop the criminalising of trauma-driven behaviour young Indigenous and non-indigenous children. All of Australia should implement a national youth justice framework based on human and Indigenous people's rights.

As well as ending harmful practices towards young offenders like spit hoods, solitary confinement and detention in adult watch houses. Thank you, Noah, for your thoughtful insights. In closing, I want to congratulate and acknowledge the fantastic contribution you've made in our office.

You've kept our whole team on their feet. I hope that you've learnt plenty during your time with me and my team. One thing that I definitely know is that you have an extremely bright future of you.

Keep your head down; keep studying hard. I look forward to seeing what you do in the future.