Indigenous Australians are grossly over-represented in Australian criminal justice systems (CJS) and in prisons in particular where they make up 26% of the prison population. The rates of Indigenous incarceration are particularly high in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory. Indigenous Australians also experience higher rates of mental illness than other Australians (AIHW) and this appears to be mirrored in CJSs and prisons. Findings from the NSW Inmate Health Survey (Butler and Allnutt 2003) and indications from analysis of the MHDCD Project Dataset suggest that a higher proportion of Indigenous Australian persons in prison have MHDCD when compared with non-Indigenous persons. This is supported by findings in other states (Department of Justice 2007). The therapeutic needs of Indigenous persons are significantly different from non-Indigenous persons, as the trauma resulting from ongoing colonisation must be understood and addressed (Westerman 2002; Atkinson 2002; Sherwood 2009).
Current research suggesting that an array of problematic impacts, including loss of land, culture and spirituality, social disadvantages, discrimination, lifestyle, perceptions and system arrangements and failures all contribute to the higher likelihood that Indigenous Australians with MHDCD come into contact with the CJS, than any other disadvantaged group (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner 2008; AIHW). Significantly poorer physical health (AHRC 2009) may also be a contributing factor. Data supporting these claims are currently fragmented and siloed, deriving as they do from diverse agencies including education, health, income support, other HS and CJ sources.
System and agency responses are often poorly integrated and inappropriate, resulting in inadequate service and support across the life course of individuals concerned (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner 2008; AIHW). Previous work has attempted to conceptualise likely risk factors and possible responses to these individuals' complex needs. This is limited by the absence of a clear picture of their context and circumstances such as impacts of colonial and intergenerational trauma, the actual pathways individuals take from the earliest points of interaction and the possible multiple interventions by agencies such as school education, police, juvenile justice, health, community services and welfare (Westerman and Wettinger 1997a, 1997b). Hence there is no overall appreciation or understanding of the life course pathways taken by Indigenous persons with MHDCD in the CJS or of the meaning, experience and impact of their cycles of imprisonment and re-imprisonment.
The IAMHDCD ARC project is based on an earlier ARC Linkage project, People with MHDCD in the CJS, completed in 2010. The original project developed a large linked then merged static dataset capturing detailed information on the pathways and Criminal Justice and Human Service systems interactions for a groupn of people (2,731 persons) who have been in prison in NSW and who have MHD and/or CD. Of these, 25% (n=676) are Indigenous Australians.
Analyses indicate that Indigenous persons have the highest rates of complex needs (multuple diagnoses and disability) and that Indigenous women with complex needs have significantly higher convictions and episodes of incarceration than their male and non-Indigenous peers. These preliminary data highlight the potential added value to the understanding of the pathways and experience of Indigenous persons in the CJS that this new project can provide.
The mixed method adopted in the current project allows for multilevel pathways analyses of the new enhanced merged data set to be combined with qualitative thematic analyses of interviews and focus groups seeking Indigenous persons' direct experiences, views of specialist Indigenous agencies and community knowledge and opinions. This will provide theoretical and applied knowledge that can inform policy and practice to reduce the high level of Indigenous persons with MHDCD in Australian criminal justice systems.