A New Approach To Sentencing !

It is an inescapable fact that our  Indigenous " First Australian " people are incarcerated at 13.5 times the greater rate than the rest of the Australian population.  The government has been looking for a new approach to reduce this over representation and what is being considered is a new initiative to be called the " Walama Court ".

That name was derived from the meaning of " come back " in the Dharug language and would involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander elders in sentencing discussions, rehabilitation and monitoring. The court would be open to between seventy-five and a hundred cases a year, all of whom would have pleaded guilty to an offence, including sexual offences.

This is an extension of of two other initiatives already in place.  Known as the " Koori Court " this is embedded in the Magistrates Court of Victoria and the New South Wales local court circle.   It recognises " elders cultural authority " and is instrumental in deciding holistic support for First Nations people.

One of the problems is that tribal people are unlikely to hold down a regular job and when a court applies a fine for a minor offence that usually goes unpaid.  That is specially true when it applies to Aboriginal women who are vastly over represented in women's prisons.  Eventually, that unpaid fine results in the offender being incarcerated for a length of time calculated to settle the debt.

The justice system is heavily weighed in favour of depriving an offender of money as a form of punishment, but this is a heavier burden on the unemployed.  In fact, the monetary fine system delivers a very different weight between poor Australians and those wealthy and is one of the reasons that community service orders were imposed in place of fines.   Rich or poor doing community labouring jobs tends to even out the punishment more than just imposing a fine.

The thinking is that this Walama Court would introduce a new element to crime and punishment.  Before the arrival of the first fleet the Aboriginal communities had their own system of punishment to institute law and order  and in some instances that involved the offender suffering a spearing.  It is highly likely the elders could suggest a cultural requirement that serves to bring shame on the offender and is recognised in the wider community as just retribution for the offence committed.

This would be better if instituted nationally but that is not likely to happen in the short term.  What is important is that the Walama court needs to be recognised as a legitimate  alternative to the regular court system if it is to achieve a reduction in the incarceration of Indigenous people.  It would not be there to reduce the severity of sentencing, but rather to apply what is considered a cultural penalty that fits the crime.

In the event of the offender not meeting the obligations imposed, the Walama court would have access to the backing of the judicial system to revert to incarceration when that was necessary.  Importantly, it has the backing of the many Indigenous lawyers practising in Australia and seems to deliver justice from both a social and a financial point of view !