The need for improved data collection

9.38     Although lack of reliable and cross-comparable data in relation to offending and incarceration is an issue affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people generally, it is an issue that particularly hinders accurate assessment of the needs and pathways of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female offenders.^[81] In 2002 and in 2004, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner stressed that the paucity of data in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female offending had rendered them ‘invisible’ in the criminal justice system.^[82]

9.39     Although now beginning to improve, data analysis in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women has been particularly hampered by the fact that data collected regularly does not disaggregate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and men, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous women.^[83] This is part of the ‘invisibility’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the criminal justice system. One example of this is provided by the Human Rights Law Centre and Change the Record Coalition:

while the ABS had data about the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison on remand and the number of women in prison on remand, the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women on remand was not identified.^[84]

9.40     Even where data is collected in a disaggregated way, it may not be cross-comparable with other jurisdictions because of the way in which the data has been collected, differences in statutory definitions, or differences in the way in which criminal justice processes operate.^[85] This lack of consistency between jurisdictions can make comparisons impossible or misleading, and contributes to the lack of evidence-based solutions in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.^[86]

9.41     The importance of consistency in data collection and the importance of empirical evidence and evaluated programs form key features of Aboriginal Justice Agreements, discussed in Chapter 10.

9.42     The ALRC invites comment on what, if any, reforms to criminal justice laws or legal frameworks could be made to respond to the increasing rate of female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration.