When I had the idea to write this article, I was hesitant. I became more wary as I delved into my research, fully aware of my status as an outsider to the First Nations Peoples and Australia as a whole. So what can I say? I recommend that you read Indigenous authors: Amy McQuire, Veronica Gorrie, Stan Grant and more. I did my best to pull together some insights, and draw attention to a few issues that I hope makes you think and draws you to action, and serves as the gateway to understand and read Indigenous voices.
Indigenous Australians experience disproportionate contact with the criminal justice system, particularly in youth justice (ages 10-17). In 2024, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare published their findings, revealing that Indigenous youth are 27 to 28 times more likely to be detained compared to their non-Indigenous peers, and are usually far younger too. In the adult group, one in three of the general adult prison population were First Nations people, and within the younger population (ages 18-39), First Nations people represented almost two in three. Between 2000 and 2009, the imprisonment rate of Indigenous Australians rose by 66 percent. As of 2023, 54 percent of First Nations prison entrants had already experienced homelessness in the month before going to prison, and are more likely to endure it after release. Compared to that, 66 percent of non-Indigenous entrants did not face homelessness, and most have temporary or permanent accommodation planned after release.
In the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCADC), Commissioner Elliot Johnston wrote “the more fundamental causes of over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody are not to be found in the criminal justice system but those factors which bring Aboriginal people into conflict with the criminal justice system in the first place … [and] the most significant contributing factor is the disadvantaged and unequal position in which Aboriginal people find themselves in society – socially, economically and culturally.” 34 years later, his words hold true — somewhat. It would be a gross conclusion to say that the criminal justice system is blameless.
In 2020, a coronial inquest into the death of Tanya Day, a Yorta Yorta woman who died in custody in 2017, revealed that the train conductor had never removed a sleeping passenger before. An investigation found that his bias against Aboriginal people directly influenced his decision to call the police that day.
Most Indigenous people are placed in custody for trivial offences such as offensive language, resisting offence and assaulting police; most are incarcerated for assault resulting in no actual bodily harm. Yet, they are less likely to be granted bail than non-Indigenous people. The history of police mistreatment is well documented. In the RCDAC, reports found that police shot and killed three unarmed mentally ill Aboriginal peoples. This commission itself was founded because of the murder of John Pat in 1983, only 16 years old, at the hands of off-duty police officers. The police were charged with manslaughter, but cleared by an all-white jury. To this day, John’s family have only been offered an apology. As the Australian Border Force plasters across their very welcoming arrivals section: “Don’t be sorry, just declare it” — to amend it I would say to the government, “Don’t be sorry, fucking do something about it”.
In Queensland, the release of secret police recordings in 2023 found outstanding evidence of violent racist language, one even ‘joking’ to his colleague about a detained Aboriginal woman saying she “won’t give you a fucking blowjob here”. In response, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll promised change, but no officers were held accountable to their actions.In 2024, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) found that the Australian and Western Australian governments potentially breached the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. CERD found that they failed to seek free, prior, and informed consent from Indigenous peoples regarding changes to cultural heritage legislation and inadequate protection of Indigenous cultural heritage sites. In the meantime, the government had already been fiddling away with repealing Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, with world-class fool George Brandis infamously saying “people have the right to be bigots”.
The failing justice system isn’t the only place where the scars of historical and systemic inequity show. Look at our higher education institutions — places that are supposed to be beacons of progress. The University of Sydney has taken some steps to address Indigenous inclusion. Its 2023 Annual Report proudly opens with an Acknowledgement of Country that lists multiple Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, symbolically recognizing the land’s First Peoples. It also details initiatives like the Sydney Indigenous Research Network (SIRN) and the Indigenous Career Development Fund, aimed at boosting Indigenous participation in academia. Though well-intentioned, these projects feel more like cosmetic fixes than transformative solutions. There’s an unsettling gap between what the report celebrates and the tangible outcomes on the ground. In reality, Indigenous workforce participation only saw a modest increase from 1.09 percent in 2022 to 1.16 percent in 2023. The same report shows that the university had enrolled 68,421 students. Of them, 455 were Indigenous, only 0.67 percent of the entire student population. So in 2023, less than 2 percent of the entire university community were Indigenous. What metrics can reflect such a small population enough for the university to be proud of itself for anything?
When Indigenous programs are treated as add-ons rather than integrated into the fabric of the institution, they run the danger of being viewed as isolated gestures rather than part of a systemic overhaul. At the University of Sydney, Indigenous perspectives are often relegated to a peripheral status — celebrated in speeches and reports for the institutional image, but not fully embedded in day-to-day practice. Or at least, I haven’t seen it. Have you? How often do you find yourself immersed in First Nations culture, issues, or voices on campus?
The struggles faced by Indigenous Australians are deeply embedded in systemic structures that perpetuate inequality and marginalisation. From the disproportionate rates of youth detention and incarceration to the persistent challenges within educational institutions, these issues require comprehensive, transformative change. Real change will not come overnight. It requires the political will to dismantle entrenched systems and the courage to transform institutions from within. If you’ve read my last article, you know what I believe in: to hell with your uncomfortability. Take accountability. I simply cannot fathom saying “I didn’t do it, my parents didn’t do it, I’m Italian/Polish if anything”, yet here you are, living on unceded land. Deal with reality and foster change, with hope.
