By Lisa Macdonald
When federal parliament resumes, the Australian Greens plan to introduce a private member's bill to over-ride section 78 of the Northern Territory's Sentencing Act — the mandatory sentencing legislation. This follows the precedent set last year when the NT's voluntary euthanasia laws were outlawed by federal parliament on "moral" grounds.
Mandatory sentencing became law in the NT on March 8, with bi-partisan support. Several people have already served sentences and many more are facing them.
The law removed the discretionary powers of magistrates to fit punishments to crime and instead places the responsibility for determining jail terms for property offences in the hands of the NT police, who decide whether or not, and which charges are laid at the time of arrest.
Property offences which now attract mandatory jail terms include stealing, criminal damage, unlawful entry to buildings, unlawful entry where there is uncertainty as to offender's intent, persons found armed with intent to unlawfully enter buildings, unlawful use of vessel, motor vehicle, caravan or trailer, receiving stolen property, receiving after change of ownership, taking reward for recovery of property obtained by means of a crime, assault with intent to steal, and robbery.
Further amendments to the Sentencing Act and the Juvenile Justice Act made in April mean that a person found guilty of one or more of the above offences must serve concurrent jail terms.
This has resulted in first-time adult offenders facing up to five years' jail, if police treat all offences separately. Currently, this is the trend in court.
The first offence carries a mandatory two weeks' jail; the second, two months' jail; the third, one year's jail; and the fourth, a two-year term. If the property offences are not an offender's first, the penalties are much higher. For juvenile offenders, the first offence carries a mandatory 28 days' jail.
Mandatory sentencing is a key tool in the NT government's campaign to convince the population that it is taking tough action to protect "ordinary citizens'" rights. More severe punishment of "criminals" is supposed to allay the generalised sense of insecurity and social disintegration accompanying high unemployment and the government's attacks on welfare services.
In fact, mandatory sentencing is draconian and discriminatory, targeting indigenous people and the very poor in particular. It has been condemned by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, which have recommended that it be repealed because it contravenes international human rights conventions.
The link between poverty, unemployment and property crime is well established. According to the Greens, between 1985 and 1995, the level of real wages for 15 to 24 year old Australians fell from $252 per week to $174. For Australians aged 20 to 24, the drop was $485 to $423. In the same period, the rate of youth unemployment increased dramatically. This year, unemployed young people's social security payments were slashed. Not surprisingly, these age groups make up a significant proportion of people who commit property crime.
In 1994, the median annual individual income range for indigenous residents in the NT 15 years and over was $8001-$12,000. For non-indigenous residents in this age group it was $12,001-$20,000. Only 6.8% of indigenous people in the NT had an income of more than $25,000.
Despite the recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1987 that imprisonment be a last resort, indigenous NT residents are among the most imprisoned people in the world. In 1996, for every non-indigenous, adult resident of the NT who was imprisoned, there were, on average, two indigenous residents imprisoned. Indigenous people make up only 25% of the NT population. Of all juveniles in detention in the NT, 90% are indigenous.
The NT government attempts to justify mandatory sentencing by arguing that imprisonment acts as a deterrent. However, a 1996 NSW study showed that a term of juvenile detention for first or second offenders increased the chances of that juvenile re-offending (M. Cain, Department of Juvenile Justice). Many other studies have reached the same conclusion.
The NT already has the highest rate of imprisonment in Australia, more than three times the national average. There are currently around 500 people awaiting court appearances for property crimes and facing certain jail terms.
The courts and the already inadequate legal aid service are beginning to feel the strain. The NT Correctional Services Department has received a 20% budget increase to reflect increased prisoner numbers. An extra $3 million is being spent to create an additional 140 places at Darwin prison.
Because the NT is not a state, the commonwealth has the power to over-rule NT laws. The Greens have launched a national campaign with that aim. For more information, contact Ilana Eldridge from the Australian Greens (NT) at (08) 89485 333 or PO Box 3818, Darwin 0801, or e-mail <ausasia@ozemail.com.au>.]