ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project

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Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Agreement
Date:	19 December 2000
Sub Category:	Framework Agreement
Place:
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State/Country:	Queensland, Australia
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Subject Matter:	\| Health and Community Services \| Law - Policy and Justice
URL:	https://web.archive.org/web/20050510221329/http://www.datsip.qld.gov.au/pdf/justice.pdf
Summary Information:
The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Agreement (the Agreement) was signed on the 19 December 2000. It was developed through a partnership between Queensland Government justice-related agencies and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board (ATSIAB) that represents the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Queensland. The justice-related agencies are: the Department of the Premier and Cabinet; the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development; the Department of Justice and Attorney-General; the Queensland Police Service; Department of Corrective Services; and Families, Youth and Community Care Queensland. The aim of the Agreement is to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people coming into contact with the Queensland criminal justice system, to at least the same rate as other Queenslanders. The stated overarching outcome of the Agreement is a 50% reduction in the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples incarcerated in the Queensland criminal justice system by the year 2011. The Agreement is an integral part of the 'Towards a Queensland Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ten Year Partnership' process. It is recognised that the overarching outcome of the Agreement can only be achieved in conjunction with the other outcomes of the Ten Year Partnership process and in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Queensland. In addition the Agreement itself sets out in its Action Plan (Schedule 2) a large number of supporting outcomes to assist the overarching outcome.
Detailed Information:
In July 1977 a National Ministerial Summit was held on Aboriginal deaths in custody. The Queensland Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives attending the Summit, resolved that the Ministers work in partnership with Indigenous peoples to address the issue of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system. The Agreement is a partial response to that resolution. It is based on a set of nine principles that will be used to guide all justice policies, programs and services in Queensland. These are: Indigenous participation; recognition of culture; acknowledgment of the impact of past policies, practices and philosophies; respect for Indigenous cultural values; equality before the law; improved coordination within Government and between Government and community organisations; empowerment and self-determination; the addressing of underlying social, cultural and economic issues; and a continued commitment to implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Task Force on Violence. The overall theme of the Agreement is the concept of building capacities. The Agreement commits the Queensland Government and ATSIAB to follow a five-part strategy: building community capacities; building individual capacities; building a more culturally sensitive criminal justice system; building a stronger role for communities in justice administration; and building integrated and coordinated justice related services. The first of these five strategies will be pursued through other areas of the Ten Year Partnership. For each of these categories, the Agreement sets out an action plan that is reviewed and updated each year. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Negotiation Group has been set up to coordinate, monitor and review implementation of the Agreement, plan the allocation of resources, and link up with other groups in the Ten Year Partnership. Regional and local community structures will also be set up to have regional and local input into the implementation of the Agreement. The Agreement is subject to annual review by the Justice Negotiation Group to ensure it remains current and accounts for the progress made each year in achieving the supporting outcomes and any new best practice initiatives developed. An independent evaluation of the Agreement will be undertaken every three years both on a statistical and qualitative basis, which will include an assessment of how the outcomes are measured. The Agreement is for a period of ten years from the date of signing, or for the duration of the Ten Year Partnership, whichever is greater.