Indigenous incarceration at record levels as Queensland’s prison population soars
Indigenous incarceration at record levels as Queensland’s prison population soars
Rise of 21% in state’s jail population also coincided with a doubling in rate of serious assaults on prisoners by fellow inmates, figures show
Joshua Robertson
Sunday 3 May 2015 02.57 EDT
Queensland jails held a record number of Indigenous people last month after the state’s prison population soared 21% in just two years.
The rising total population in the state’s jails has also coincided with a doubling in the rate of serious assaults on prisoners by fellow inmates.
Figures obtained by Guardian Australia from Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) show Indigenous people, who make up less than 4% of the state’s population, remain grossly overrepresented in prisons, where they account for almost a third of inmates.
A total of 2,327 inmates of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background were in custody on 2 April, which a spokeswoman said was “the highest Indigenous prison population attained on record”.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/may/03/indigenous-incarceration-at-record-levels-as-queenslands-prison-population-soars