While the Law Council’s call to abolish mandatory sentencing for alcohol related crime has some merit, we need to ensure serious offenders go to prison, according to Centre for Independent Studies Research Fellow and Manager of the Indigenous Research Program, Sara Hudson.
“Alcohol is a significant factor in Indigenous offending. The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates that 87% of all Indigenous intimate partner homicides are alcohol related,” Ms Hudson says.
“While there is definitely merit in considering abolishing mandatory sentencing for minor alcohol related offences, it should be retained for serious offences, such as homicide.
“Victims of serious alcohol related crime, particularly vulnerable Indigenous women, should be protected by our justice system.”
“The Law Council has suggested there should be more judicial discretion, but the community rightfully expects serious offenders will go to jail. Our laws and legal system should reflect this, but these expectations have not always been met.”
She also cautions against the use of justice reinvestment, which she argues simply recycles old community prevention programs in a new wrapping.
“Community-based programs and rehabilitation are not new. There are numerous diversionary programs across Australia as well as an Alcohol Court in the Northern Territory,” she says.
“Incarcerating people with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder when they commit minor offences, is wrong. But addressing these problems does not require adopting justice reinvestment strategies.
“Formal assessments of people’s cognitive and intellectual abilities prior to sentencing, and more options for people with alcohol-related disorders to receive rehabilitation services instead of prison sentences, could occur without the use of justice reinvestment.”
Sara Hudson is a Research Fellow and Manager of the Indigenous Research Program at the Centre for Independent Studies.
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