The First Peoples Assembly of Victoria is deeply disappointed by the Victorian Government’s decision to abandon crucial bail reforms for children and instead experiment with concerning surveillance practices.
Assembly Co-chair, Rueben Berg, said he shared many concerns that various Aboriginal community organisations have expressed about the impact such policies will have on young people.
“The Government should be listening to Aboriginal people, taking on-board the ideas of our community organisations and experts, and embracing the learnings and recommendations from the truth-telling process. Instead they seem to be defaulting back to out-dated and misguided policies that will continue to disproportionately harm our people,” said Mr Berg.
Instead of addressing the over-incarceration of Aboriginal children, the Government has opted to trial surveillance measures, potentially subjecting children to monitoring without due process.
“We urge the Victorian Government not to prioritises punitive measures over genuine reform. Don’t walk away from your commitments to listen to First Peoples,” said Mr Berg.
