Hundreds of Indigenous Australians with mental health and cognitive disabilities are being warehoused in jails rather than being supported in the community, according to a new study by the University of New South Wales.
The research paints a grim picture of life for more than 670 Indigenous prisoners in the state, tracking their interactions with police and courts for up to 30 years.
All of them suffered from a mental health disorder like depression, schizophrenia, or psychosis; or a cognitive disability such as an intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, or foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
Key findings:
- Study looked at 2,731 prisoners with mental and cognitive disorders. 676 were Indigenous.
- Indigenous prisoners had first contact with police at 15 years, compared to 18.
- Indigenous prisoners 2.6 times more likely to have been in out of home care.
- 2.4 times more likely to have spent time in juvenile justice custody.
- Indigenous women had average of 23 convictions compared to 15 for non-Indigenous.
The report found these Indigenous prisoners had their first contact with police 3.4 years earlier than non-Indigenous inmates, at about 15 years old compared to about 18.
[For more of this story, written by John Stewart and Brigid Andersen, go to http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...ealth-issues/6904838]
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