have no sense of a future. There is
a disconnection from culture where
prison becomes almost a rite of
passage. Many young Aboriginal
women will `graduate' from the
same juvenile institutions where
their mothers, maybe even their
grandmothers were incarcerated and
will ultimately follow in the footsteps of
their extended families, both men and
women, through the revolving doors of
the adult prison system. We've been
conditioned to this, it's what we know
and it is our expectation of life.
less likely to drink than other groups are, however
where they do drink, they are more likely to drink at
harmful levels. Victorian data from 2007-08 revealed
that 26 per cent of Koori people had not consumed
alcohol in the past 12 months, compared to 19 per
cent of the general population.
Koori Victorians to drink to medium or high-risk
levels, with the potential for longer-term harm.
drug and alcohol misuse is higher amongst Koori
prisoners than non-Koori prisoners. From July 2010
to June 2011, an assessment of Victoria's prisoner
population revealed Koori prisoners were more likely
than non-Koori prisoners to have high drug and
alcohol treatment needs. These needs were identified
via the Victorian Intervention Screening Assessment
Tool (VISAT), which is used by Corrections Victoria to
assess a prisoner's social, personal, and economic
circumstances at the commencement of their
sentence, and identify their risk of reoffending and
offence-related treatment needs.
significantly more likely than non-Koori prisoners
to have moderate to high drug and alcohol
treatment needs.
State of Victoria, Department of Health, `Koori Alcohol
Action Plan', above n 129, 14.
Note: there is no female-specific data, other than a
note that says the sample of women, though small,
included a higher proportion of Koori women than non-
Koori women (24 Koori women or 10.8 per cent of all
Koori prisoners compared to 216 non-Koori women or
7.1 per cent of non-Koori prisoners). State of Victoria,
Sentencing Advisory Council, `Comparing Sentencing
Outcomes', above n 49, 47.
treatment needs, compared to 16 per cent of
non-Koori prisoners.
needs, compared to 44 per cent of non-Koori
prisoners.
other drug dependence as a factor contributing to
Koori women offending.
young people are not engaged at
school, then this also increases
the likelihood that they will become
involved in criminal activity.
Koori students generally perform better than
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in
other states. However, when compared to other
students within Victoria, Koori students are more
likely to have lower literacy and numeracy skills,
lower attendance rates, and complete fewer years
of schooling.
students, identified Koori students as entering Prep
with lower literacy skills than non-Koori children
achieve expected levels remaining higher than that
of other students through to the end of school.
missing, on average, one day of school a week.
For example, key informant interview, Victorian
Aboriginal Legal Service, 15 November 2012; key
informant interview, Aboriginal Family Violence
Prevention Legal Service, 13 December 2012; key
informant interview, Aboriginal Outcomes Unit,
Department of Human Services, 30 November 2012.
Key informant interview, Judge Paul Grant, President,
Children's Court of Victoria, 14 January 2013. See also,
key informant interview, Aboriginal Family Violence
Prevention Legal Service, 13 December 2012.
Approximately 20 per cent of Koori Prep students,
compared to approximately five per cent of non-Koori
Prep students. State of Victoria, Department of Education
and Early Childhood Development, above n 133, 9.