Who is delivering the project? The project is being delivered by a consortium of three partner agencies: The Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies/Centre for Community Welfare Training (ACWA CCWT) The Intellectual Disability Rights Services (IDRS) Life without Barriers (LWB) 2. Introduction 2.1 Acknowledgement or Welcome to Country Welcome to Country’ is an important ceremony by Aboriginal people and inviting them to perform it, helps non-Aboriginal people recognise Aboriginal culture and history [1] A ‘Welcome to Country’ is a small ceremony where traditional owners, usually Elders, welcome people to their land. This is a significant recognition and is made through a formal process, although it’s up to the Elder how they decide to carry out the ceremony. It also depends on the location of the event and the practice of the Aboriginal community which can vary greatly according to region. ‘Welcome to Country’ should always occur in the opening of the event in question, preferable as the first item. Note that a ‘Welcome to Country’ is often considered a right and not a privilege. Protocols for welcoming visitors to country have been a part of Aboriginal culture for thousands of years. Despite the absence of fences or visible borders, Aboriginal groups had clear boundaries separating their country from that of other groups. Crossing into another group’s country required a request for permission to enter — like gaining a visa — and when that permission was granted the hosting group would welcome the visitors, offering them safe passage. In modern Australia, the ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony was first conducted at an official ceremony in 1999 during the NSW Supreme Court’s 175th anniversary, arranged by Chief Justice James Spigelman.
capturing detailed information on the pathways and Criminal Justice and Human Service systems interactions for a group of people (2,731 persons) who have been in prison in NSW and who have MHD and/or CD. Of these, 25% (n=676) are Indigenous Australians. Initial analyses indicate that Indigenous persons have the highest rates of complex needs (multiple diagnoses and disability) and that Indigenous women with complex needs have significantly higher convictions and episodes of incarceration than their male and non-Indigenous peers. These preliminary data highlight the potential added value to the understanding of the pathways and experience of Indigenous persons in the CJS that this new project can provide. The mixed method adopted in the current project allows for multilevel pathway analysis of the new enhanced merged data set to be combined with qualitative thematic analyses of interviews and focus groups seeking Indigenous persons’ direct experiences, views of specialist Indigenous agencies and community knowledge and opinions. This will provide theoretical and applied knowledge that can inform policy and practice to reduce the high level of Indigenous persons with MHDCD in Australian criminal justice systems. [17] Those with complex cognitive disabilities are significantly more likely to; have earlier contact with police more police episodes more more likely to have been clients of the juvenile justice system have more police episodes through life than those with single or no diagnosis locked into the criminal justice system early rather that assist with rehabilitation Their offenses are almost all in the lowest of 10% of seriousness [18] People with intellectual and other cognitive disability in the criminal justice system Ageing, Disability and Home Care Department of Families and Community Services NSW December 2012 (Report pg 26-27) Indigenous Australians come into contact with the CJS much earlier when compared to the rest of the cohort,… on average over three years earlier, at an average age of 15.3 years of age and a median age of 14.3. Over fifty percent of the Indigenous persons in the cohort had their first police contact by fourteen years of age, and one quarter had their first police contact by age twelve. They continue to have much earlier contact, with first custody also occurring four years earlier than the non‐Indigenous cohort. The time between first police contact and first custodial episode between Indigenous and Australians is also much shorter, with an average difference of one year and a median difference of half a year.