Former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope has called on the government to urgently respond to Canberra's "dramatic" Indigenous apprehension figures.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Last week it was revealed ACT Policing apprehended 35 per cent more Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders between 2013 and 2017, while non-Aboriginal apprehensions dropped.
"The statistics are dramatic and extremely worrying and certainly they demand a very direct and, I believe, urgent response from the government," Mr Stanhope said.
"I would never have suggested it myself but the suggestion's been made that it's the result of institutional and systemic racism."
Canberra's discrimination commissioner Karen Toohey welcomed introducing an ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander commissioner and recommended ACT police officers begin recording what ethnicity they believe the people they stop to be.
"Statistics of that nature suggest it may not be a deliberate targeting but there may well be an element of unconscious bias," Ms Toohey said.
Recording officer perceived ethnicity, Ms Toohey said, would provide better indicators as to why more Aboriginal Canberrans were ending up in the criminal justice system.
"Once you've been engaged with the justice system it's more likely to happen again," she said.
"Data is both a transparency thing but it's also an accountability thing in keeping community confidence with the police.
"We'd certainly support a trial of some of those options."
Ms Toohey said the figures were "surprising" considering the programs in place to reduce the over representation of Aboriginals in Canberra's justice system.
Legal Aid ACT deputy chief executive Louise Taylor said Canberra had to be open to analysing the way its justice system engaged with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or nothing would change.
"One of the challenges in this space is for the police and other front line organisations, who are coming into contact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to be open to reflecting on rigorously reviewing their practices and procedures to make sure they're not inadvertently, or indeed overtly, discriminating against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," Ms Taylor said.
A spokesperson for police minister Mick Gentleman said the government was open to officers collecting additional information at police stops.
Justice minister Shane Rattenbury said the government would review appointing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner, but not until 2019.
Mr Stanhope, an adviser at the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Centre, also called on the government to reintroduce an Aboriginal justice centre.
"I think it stunning [...] that Canberra, the most prosperous city in Australia, has currently the dubious honour of being the jurisdiction that locks up more Aboriginal people on a pro rate basis than any other place in Australia," he said.
In August it was revealed Aboriginal people made up about 21 per cent of Canberra's prison population, despite only comprising about 2 per cent of the ACT's population.
Mr Stanhope also pointed to the fact Indigenous people from Canberra's Alexander Maconochie Centre were twice as likely to reoffend than non-Indigenous people.
Know more? Contact finbar.omallon@fairfaxmedia.com.au or use the Signal smartphone app to message 0437 464 126.