It is a well-documented fact that an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person faces discrimination the moment they become an inmate of any correctional centre.
Discrimination takes many forms.
Blatant racial discrimination is slowly being brought under control through the introduction of cultural awareness training for prison officers. But that training rarely prepares officers with a full understanding of the wide variety of indigenous cultures which exist in their State or Territory. This is a problem which justifies the establishment of community-based correctional centres and community justice projects, both of which are an important step toward recognition of customary law and reconciliation. They are an invaluable form of alternative sentencing. Their ultimate aim is to curb or halt an offender's anti-social behaviour for a specified period of time in an effort to maintain that person in mainstream society.