Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal People in Australia is the Highest in the World
Dr Anthea Krieg, a Member of Unley Allies, is a vanguard promoting the reduction of incarceration rates for First Nations people in Australia. The numbers have kept on rising since the 1990s, since Australia started keeping more accurate records, so that now, in early 2025, Aboriginal people are 17 times more likely to be locked up than other Australians.
For more information about the overincarceration of Australia’s First Nations people, check out these websites:
Websites
Imprisonment in Australia: Justice Reform initiative: https://www.justicereforminitiative.org.au/
Closing The Gap: CTG Targets 10 and 11: https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement/targets
First Nations advocacy: ANTAR: https://antar.org.au/
Youth Justice: Justice Hub: https://www.justicehub.com.au/
Data
Australian Institute of Criminology-Deaths in Custody dashboard: https://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/deaths-custody-australia
AIHW: Quarterly update; Prisoners in Australia https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/population-groups/people-in-prison/overview
Productivity Commission-Police, Courts and Corrections updates Section C Chapters 6,7 and 8: https://www.pc.gov.au/ongoing/report-on-government-services
Productivity Commission- Youth Justice. Section F Chapter 17 https://www.pc.gov.au/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2025/community-services/youth-justice
Inquiry into UNDRIP (Commonwealth)
A bill was introduced to parliament on 29 March 2022 by Lydia Thorpe to establish a framework for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the Commonwealth Government.
This Bill was not enacted.
Subsequently, an inquiry committee produced a report in November 2024. Read this report here.
Key First Nations leaders have demanded a Government response to this report by 22 November 2025. Recommendations include developing an UNDRIP National Plan. This could be a powerful vehicle for advancing the Federal Government’s responsibility where states and territories fail.
Yoorrook Justice Commission (Victoria)
The Yoorrook Justice Commission final reports have been released and were tabled in the Parliament of Victoria on 1 July 2025.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission is the first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria.
Yoorrook was set up by agreement between the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and the Victorian Government, but operates independently of both.
Named after the Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba word for ‘truth’, the Yoorrook Justice Commission was established in May 2021.
Yoorrook was set up to share and record evidence about the ongoing impact of colonisation on First Peoples. It was given a broad mandate to investigate both historical and ongoing injustices committed against First Peoples in Victoria, across all areas of social, political, cultural and economic life.
Yoorrook is the first and only truth-telling commission in Australia. Although there have been more than 40 other truth commissions established worldwide, Yoorrook is unique. It is designed and led by First Peoples. It is independent of government and afforded the full investigative powers of a Royal Commission. This means it has the power to compel people – including the Premier of Victoria – to appear before it, to answer questions truthfully, and to produce documents and other evidence.
This Yoorook website is the official public record of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. It shares truths, evidence and recommendations from the Commission’s historic truth-telling process in Victoria.
Unley Allies recommends the reading of these reports for increased understanding of the perspectives of Victoria’s First Nations People.
Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024 (Commonwealth)
This inquiry lapsed when the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs ceased to exist at the dissolution of the House of Representatives on 28 March 2025.
On 4 July 2024 the Senate referred the Truth and Justice Commission Bill 2024 to the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs for inquiry and report by 29 May 2025.
The Bill was intended to establish a Commission to inquire into and make recommendations to Parliament on particular matters relating to historic and ongoing injustices against First Peoples in Australia and the impacts of these injustices on First Peoples.
Further information about the Bill, including the Explanatory Memoranda can be found on the Parliament’s website.