Northern Territory Aboriginal Justice Agreement receives bipartisan support, seven months after launch

A historic agreement to reduce high rates of Indigenous incarceration and improve the NT’s justice system has received bipartisan support, seven months after its initial launch.

The Aboriginal Justice Agreement was finalised and signed by the Labor government in August last year, after more than 160 consultations across three years in more than 120 communities.

Non-government organisations, land councils and lawyers were also parties to the agreement.

“The Gunner Government hasn’t allowed or accepted us to be a party to this agreement until today,” Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said.

“But that’s water under the bridge now, it’s done.”

Chief Minister Michael Gunner was scheduled to be at the signing but pulled out at the last minute, citing urgent business.

Among the list of actions, the agreement commits to setting up alternatives to custody, community courts, reducing family violence offending and ensuring laws do not discriminate against Aboriginal people.

There is also a promise to increase the number of “high quality” prisoner programs to reduce reoffending.

‘People don’t like living with crime’

Consultations with remote residents were driven by Arrernte woman Leanne Liddle, a former police officer and current NT Australian of the Year, who is now in charge of the government unit overseeing the agreement.

“People don’t like living with crime in their communities, people don’t want to live in the disadvantage and poverty that people live in and people see this as a change agent that has no room for politics,” Ms Liddle said.

“The bipartisan support allows the seven-year agreement to last for seven years and it allows the deliverables to be met.”

“Clearly funding is one of the issues, but that’s not in my remit.”

Attorney-General Selena Uibo was asked whether her government’s tough approach to youth bail laws aligned with the agreement, after reforms last year removed police discretion and led to more young people being locked up.

“So the Aboriginal Justice Agreement is predominantly focused on the adult justice system, which I have carriage of in my portfolio,” Ms Uibo said.

Ms Finocchiaro said her party would not be backing away from “strong laws” but agreed there should be more custody options for judges, beyond bail or jail.

More than a year after receiving recommendations from its law reform committee about fixing mandatory sentencing laws, Ms Uibo said the government was still considering the proposals.

“This is an area that we undertook as a Labor government to review, we have accepted the report and are still considering the report,” Ms Uibo said.

“We have several key pieces of legislation that relate to justice and to look at one in particular would not make any sense.”

AJA progress reports to be tabled annually

NT Council of Social Service chief executive Deborah Di Natale, who is part of the committee monitoring the government’s progress, said having true bipartisan support for the agreement provided hope for future generations.

“We already have early indicators of success,” Ms Natale said.

“The alternative to custody model in Alice Springs has had a 90 per cent success rate for Aboriginal women who completed the program and did not go on to reoffend.”

Ms Liddle said remote community residents have told the government what they think is needed to help fix the justice system and they would not be forgotten.

“They were the most integral part,” Ms Liddle said.

“We will be going back out to communities, we will be delivering those programs, we will be providing the opportunities so that people can bounce back off the justice system, never to return.”

Under the agreement, the government has promised to table progress updates in the NT Parliament each year.