Unpaid fines leading to Indigenous over-representation
New data suggests the over-representation of Indigenous Western Australians in jail could be exacerbated by that state’s policies of locking up people over unpaid fines.
30 October 2014
By Widyan Al Ubudy
Indigenous Australians make up more than quarter of Australia’s prisoner population.
And new data from the West Australian Department of Corrective Services suggest that that gross over-representation could be exacerbated by policies in WA locking up people over unpaid fines.
The department’s figures show that between 2008 and 2014 numbers soared from 194 incarcerated fine-defaulters to over 1000.
In the same period, the number of Aboriginal people held for unpaid fines jumped from 101 to 590.
Gerry Georgatos is a senior researcher in custodial systems and a prison reform advocate.
He told Widyan Al Ubudy the figures are a reminder of government failures to address Indigenous prison rates.
