A report released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers puts numbers to the economic and social costs of Australia's critically high Indigenous incarceration rate. The report shows how the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prisons is costing Australia nearly eight billion dollars annually, with that number projected to balloon towards $19 billion per annum by 2040 if we don't intervene.As VICE has previously reported, the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous incarceration rates is an issue that has only exacerbated over time. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians represent just three percent of the Australian population, but they account for 27 percent of the adult prison population. The situation is much worse in juvenile detention—55 percent of children and young people in detention are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
PricewaterhouseCoopers says that justice system costs related to Indigenous incarceration in 2016 amounted to $3.9 billion, and are forecast to grow to $10.3 billion annually by 2040. Indirect welfare costs associated with the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Australian prisons are set to reach $110 million by 2040 if nothing changes.Economics aside, the report highlights the dire social consequences of Indigenous overrepresentation in prisons. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have been incarcerated are at a far greater risk of experiencing financial stress, having lower levels of educational attainment, fewer employment prospects, and experiencing difficulties accessing housing. The result of all this being that they are far more likely to reoffend and end up in prison once more.Jodie Sizer, Co-CEO and Co-Owner of PricewaterhouseCooper's Indigenous Consulting arm said that the impact of Indigenous overrepresentation in Australia's prisons had far-reaching impact. "There would not be one Indigenous family in Australia that is not impacted by this issue, every year it is estimated that one-in-five Indigenous kids have at least one parent in prison," she said in a statement this morning.The report suggests some solutions that could, if implemented, produce annual savings to the economy of nearly $19 billion by 2040. It stresses that evidence-based approaches led Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would have both economic and social benefits, and be the most constructive way to approach the Indigenous incarceration issue.Some of the solutions suggested by PricewaterhouseCoopers include putting Indigenous self-determination "at the heart of the solution", establishing a set of "national targets against which progress can be measured", improving "cultural awareness across the system", "investing more in prevention and early intervention", designing better "throughcare and reintegration programs" in order to reduce recidivism, and "investing more in innovation and evaluation to better identify what really works.""We now have a further $19 billion reasons to close the gap," Sizer said. But "in addition to the economic and fiscal costs of Indigenous incarceration, there are significant consequences for individuals, families and communities impacting on this generation and the next. It's time for a holistic collaborative response, led by our Aboriginal organisations and communities to solve this challenge."Follow Kat on Twitter
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