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Have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services failed? A response to WeatherburnABSTRACTIn this article, we consider Don Weatherburn’s claim that Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) have a limited role in reducing Indigenous incarceration. We argue that Weatherburn understates the role of ATSILS. We make our argument in three parts: first, we assess the Weatherburn thesis as it relates to ATSILS. Second, we examine the weaknesses of Weatherburn’s methodology, which overlooks the complexity of Indigenous over-representation in Australian prisons. Third, we explore five counterfactual scenarios of a world without ATSILS, showing the major role ATSILS have regarding the myriad of cross-cultural and socio-economic issues Indigenous people contend with when coming in contact with the justice system. We argue that ATSILS play an important role in addressing Indigenous over-representation in Australian prisons. Elise Klein <elise.klein@unimelb.edu.au> is a Lecturer of Development Studies, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. Her research interests include behaviouralisation of development policy, community development and Indigenous development in neo-colonial Australia. Michael Jones Michael Jones <michael.jones@politics.ox.ac.uk> is a DPhil in Politics candidate at the University of Oxford. His research examines race politics and criminal justice policy, focusing on the failed policy responses to the rising incarceration rates of Indigenous Australians. Eddie Cubillo <eddie.cubillo@atsils.org.au> is the Executive Officer at the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS). He was formerly the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of the Northern Territory and has over fifteen years’ experience in the Northern Territory Government working at the grass roots of Aboriginal affairs. Download in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format, 368 Kb. |
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