|
 Police and Justice
|
Overview of issues
|
Resources relating to Police and Justice
|
|
|
Overview of issues
|
Research has shown that young people are more likely to come into contact with the police and the justice system, both as victims and perpetrators of crime.
Key issues affecting young refugees and CLD young people around access to justice and community safety include:
|
Awareness of the law and legal systems in Australia
|
The law can be very complex and confusing for young people and their families, especially those who are newly arrived. Young people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds often have the least understanding of their legal rights and the Australian legal system.
Once they have come into contact with the justice system, CLD young people and their families may not understand their progress through the legal system nor the outcome. For example, young people driving without a licence, either due to a lack of awareness about the law or because of barriers to attaining a licence, puts young people at risk of early contact with the legal system.
|
Representation of certain CLD groups in the juvenile/adult correction systems
|
Historically there has been an overrepresentation of young people from certain CLD backgrounds in the justice system. There are strong social and economic forces which may propel some migrant and refugee young people into circumstances leading to criminal activity and contact with police and justice systems. These circumstances include: family and community disconnection, unemployment and lack of recreational activities, poverty and marginalisation.
The relationship between marginalisation and overrepresentation in criminal statistics or correction services is complex. It may be indicative of both offending patterns and/or particular police practices.
|
Cultural appropriateness of Juvenile Justice system
|
Within the Juvenile Justice (JJ) system, there is seen to be a lack of cultural understanding and sensitivity to the needs of CLD young people and their families. As well as communication barriers (inadequate use of interpreters, lack of translated information), there is also a lack of flexibility and understanding within the system of the cultural, language and religious contexts of CLD young people and their families. This problem is further exacerbated because of the lack of data available on the cultural background of JJ clients, thus limiting the capacity of the system to evaluate and develop culturally appropriate responses.
|
Relationships between police and young people
|
Relationships between police and CLD young people have been strained in the past. While some progress has been made, CLD young people still perceive themselves to be targeted unfairly due to their physical appearance and often feel ‘over-policed.’ In dealing with the police, CLD young people, and in particular newly arrived refugee and migrant young people, are often unaware or unable to make use of their rights and feel that complaints procedures are inaccessible or ineffective.
|
Resources relating to Police and Justice Issues
|
| Ethnic Youth Gangs: Do They Exist? (Australian Multicultural Foundation, 1999) (1.35Mb)
| Report providing an overview summary of six studies undertaken on ‘ethnic youth gangs’ in the Melbourne metropolitan area over the period 1996-1998. This report presents the overall findings of the study, and involves comparisons between the different groups as well as highlighting common features. It discusses further general issues relating to perceptions of, and responses to, ‘youth gangs’ in the context of a culturally diverse society.
|
| | Some Kind of Beat Up (Gary Tippet, The Age, February 2007) (77kb)
| This article, written by Gary Tippet, was published in The Age newspaper in February 2007. The author speaks with Betty, a young 19-year-old Sudanese-Australian, about her views on recent media reports highlighting crimes among Melbourne's African community. The article addresses the continual need to breakdown the stereotype perpetuated by the media that African young people are running in gangs.
|
|
|
|
