The figures are even worse for Indigenous young people. The rate of youth detention of Indigenous young people compared with non-Indigenous young people is 425 versus 19, per 100,000. That is Indigenous young people are incarcerated at 22 times the rate of non-Indigenous young people. Overwhelmingly, these prisoners are male, and we can assume that many of them are fathers. Given the history of our Indigenous people, in terms of dislocation and cultural fragmentation, the questions of how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males learn to be men and learn how to father are particularly problematic ones.
Incarceration adds a further dimension.
The first paper in this symposium indicated the Commission's interest in parenting programs, because of the important role a responsive and supportive family environment can play in the ongoing well-being of children. An awareness of the effects of incarceration of a parent on their children is the starting point for this project. Parents remain parents, even when incarcerated yet, public policy, and programs for prisoners, often overlook children as a group of secondary victims. Nevertheless, this paper will now briefly summarise some of what we do know about the effects of imprisonment on the family. A significant issue when women are imprisoned is the provision of alternative care for their children, as women are more likely to be the primary caregivers.