Unfinished business: Koori women and the justice system Page 36

32 Unfinished business: Koori women and the justice system

· For Koori students who remained to take post-

compulsory study in the Victorian Certificate of
Education (VCE), of 127 eligible Koori students, 107
completed VCE in 2006, a completion rate of 84 per
cent compared to 97 per cent for other students.

157

· Nationally, Australian Bureau of Statistics census

data shows that the proportion of Indigenous
people who have completed high school is half
that of the non-Indigenous population, at 25 per
cent compared to 52 per cent.

· Of those that did not complete high school,

Indigenous people were twice as likely to
declare Year 9 or below as their highest
completed year of school.

· In 2011-12, VISAT identified Koori prisoners as

more than twice as likely to have high vocational
and educational needs than non-Indigenous
prisoners.

158

Disadvantage in employment

Poverty was identified by several key informants as
a factor contributing to offending.

159

Poverty is...a key driver of crime. The
majority of VALS' clients are living on
or below the poverty line, many have
substance addictions and are from
disadvantaged communities.

160

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are less
likely to be employed and also earn less than other
Australians. Census data shows that in 2010:

· Fifty-one per cent of Indigenous Australians over

the age of 15 were employed, compared to 64
per cent of non-Indigenous Australians.

· When looking only at those aged 15 to 65, the

contrast is even starker, with only 53 per cent of
Indigenous people employed, compared to 76
per cent of non-Indigenous people.

161

· A little over half (56 per cent) reported a weekly

income of between $200 and $799. In contrast,
half (51 per cent) of the non-Indigenous
population reported earning twice that amount
per week, between $400 and $1,249.

162

157

Ibid 10.

158

State of Victoria, Sentencing Advisory Council,
`Comparing Sentencing Outcomes', above n 49, 51.

159

For example, key informant interview, Aboriginal Family
Violence Prevention Legal Service, 13 December 2012;
key Informant interview, Flat Out, 5 March 2013.

160

Key informant interview, Victorian Aboriginal Legal
Service, 15 November 2012.

161

State of Victoria, Sentencing Advisory Council,
`Comparing Sentencing Outcomes', above n 49, 51.

162

Ibid 49.

The Corrections Victoria Koori Education, Training and
Employment Strategy 2011-2013 notes "significant
educational and employment disadvantage amongst
Victoria's prison population".

163

The proportion of

Koori prisoners who were employed prior to prison
has also declined significantly in recent years. On 30
June 2010, only six per cent of Koori prisoners had a
job immediately prior to prison.

164

Mental health and other disabilities

· Reported rates of mental health disorders and

other disabilities are significantly higher for
Indigenous Australians.

165

· In 2008, half of all Indigenous people aged 15

years and over reported having a disability or a
long-term health condition, while one in 12 had
a profound or severe core activity limitation.

166

· Indigenous people experience a profound or

severe core limitation at around twice the rate of
non-Indigenous people.

167

· Eight per cent of Indigenous people had a

psychological disability and a further eight per
cent had an intellectual disability.

168

· Indigenous people in non-remote areas are

50 per cent more likely to have a physical
disability and three times more likely to have an
intellectual disability than non-Indigenous people.

· Indigenous children are almost four times more

likely to be deaf than non-Indigenous people.

169

163

State of Victoria, Corrections Victoria, "Meerta Meerta":
Koori Education, Training and Employment Strategy
2011-2013 (2011) 5.

164

Down from 19 per cent in 2004. Ibid 11.

165

The Productivity Commission commented on the
difficulty of providing accurate rates of disability among
Indigenous peoples. They linked this uncertainty to a
number of things, including a lack of historical data,
lower rates of survey participation by Indigenous people,
differing cultural understandings of disability, and
greater barriers facing Indigenous people in accessing
disability supports. They warned that rates of disability
may still be understated. Productivity Commission,
Disability Care and Support, Report no 54 (2011) 532-3.

166

Australian Bureau of Statistics, The Health and Welfare
of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Peoples (2010). <http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/
abs@.nsf/lookup/4704.0Chapter510Oct+2010> at
14 July 2013. The ABS defines a profound or core
activity limitation as, "A specified condition for which a
person requires help or supervision in performing one
or more core activities such as self-care, mobility or
communication."

167

Productivity Commission, `Disability Care and Support',
above n 165, 533.

168

169

Productivity Commission, `Disability Care and Support',
above n 165, 534.