interviews with a small number of Koori women
and key informants, the project has a number of
limitations.
data. Due to the small size of the female prison
population, data is not always broken down
by Koori status. This makes it difficult to make
comparisons with non-Koori prisoners. In other
cases gender-based data is not available.
However, wherever data was publically available
that included a demographic breakdown this was
included.
focused on self-reported experiences.
necessarily be extrapolated to the wider population
of Koori women in prison, the Commission
considered it important to document the views
and experiences of even a small sample of Koori
women. Where possible, the Commission has
used other data and content of interviews with key
organisations to test the findings.
with the help of FVPLS, VALS and HomeGround
Services, rather than using a random sample.
While this might influence the findings, the
Commission considered this the most effective way
of recruiting voluntary participants in a culturally
appropriate way.
programs
of culturally appropriate diversionary programs.
Rather, the aim of the research is to make the
case for these programs from a human rights
perspective, by documenting the views of the
people most affected Koori women.
Koori is used by south-eastern Victorian Aboriginal
people to define a collective Aboriginality. However,
we acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander women from around Australia are
represented in the Victorian prison population.
used by the Department of Justice, Victoria.
The Department has agreement from the Koori
Caucus of the Aboriginal Justice Forum that,
for consistency, the term `Koori' is the preferred
term (`Koories' for plural) to be used in Victoria's
Aboriginal Justice Agreement and related
initiatives.
describe Indigenous peoples nationally and is
used in this report. However, when citing publicly
available research or data, the Commission uses
the terminology used in the original, published
report, including the term `Indigenous'.
language groups
groups.
0.9 per cent of Victoria's total population (47,327
people).
Melbourne. Large regional groups are also found in
Greater Shepparton, Mildura and East Gippsland.
country or around the state, the Victorian Koori
community also comprises Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples from all over Australia.
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights
Commission, Cultural Diversity in the Workplace:
A Guide for Employers Working with Indigenous
Employees (2012) 2.
This estimate is based on an official adjustment to
the 2011 census data, which compensates for the
significant under-identification of Koori people. State
of Victoria, Department of Planning and Community
Development, Victorian Government Aboriginal Affairs
Report 2012 (2012) 6.
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights
Commission, `Cultural Diversity', above n 30, 2.