Unfinished business: Koori women and the justice system Page 22

18 Unfinished business: Koori women and the justice system

Compared to other Australian jurisdictions, Victoria
had the second highest proportional increase
in the average daily Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander imprisonment rate per head of population
in the period September 2011-September 2012.
Thus while our state still enjoys a lower per capita
incarceration rate than other jurisdictions, Koori
people are still significantly over-represented in our
prison population.

The number of Koori women in Victorian prisons
is increasing

In Victoria, the total number of Koori women in
prison is low compared to other states, however it
is increasing, and at a much higher rate than that
for both non-Koori women and Koori men.

Figure 1 Indigenous status of prisoners in Victoria 28 February 2013

Indigenous status

Number

Proportion of -

Male prisoner population

Male Indigenous

359

7.3%

Male non-Indigenous

4529

92.7%

Female prisoner population

Female Indigenous

8.9%

Female non-Indigenous

306

91.1%

Total population

Total Indigenous

389

7.4%

Total non-Indigenous

4835

92.6%

Source: Data estimates derived from State of Victoria, Corrections Victoria, `Indigenous Offenders and Prisoners Data Report to the
March 2013 AJF' (Presentation to Aboriginal Justice Forum 14-15 March 2013).

An increase of 17 per cent on the previous year.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, `Corrective Services
September 2012', above n 42, 7.

· Between 2007 and 2012, Koori female prisoner

numbers doubled in Victoria, from 14 to 28.

· On 28 February 2013, there were 30 Koori

women in prison in Victoria.

It should be noted that these are stock data,
relating to the prison population on a given date.
"It does not provide the more dramatic, volatile
picture of how many flow in and out of prison over
a year... the flow through number of prisoners is
much higher than the census figure suggests..."

For example, in 2012 a total of 89 Koori women
entered prison during the year.

At the same time, the number of non-Koori female
prisoners increased by 27 per cent. Koori male prison
numbers in Victoria increased by 48 per cent, from
223 to 331, compared to a 15 per cent increase for
non-Koori male prisoners.

State of Victoria, `Indigenous

Offenders and Prisoners November 2012', above n 3.

State of Victoria, Corrections Victoria, `Indigenous
Offenders and Prisoners March 2013', above n 3. On
31 May 2013, the number of female Koori prisoners was
29. The number of non-Koori female prisoners was 322
and 12 female prisoners had an unknown Indigenous
status. Information provided to the Commission by
Corrections Victoria, 8 August 2013.

Eileen Baldry, The Booming Industry: Australian Prisons
(2008) 3. <http://www.nobars.org.au/downloads/Baldry_
Debate.pdf> at 11 July 2013.

State of Victoria, Department of Justice, Koori Justice
Unit, above n 8.