AMC. Photo: Andrew Finch
IN a six-month period, Aboriginal women at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) were more likely to be strip searched than non-Aboriginal women, according to information provided to the Melbourne-based Human Rights Legal Centre (HRLC). In the period from October 1 to April 30 there were 208, or one a day, on average, strip searches conducted on women. Of those 121 (58 per cent) were conducted on Aboriginal women despite the fact that during this period only 44 per cent of the women were Aboriginal.
Of the 208 strip searches only three 1.5 per cent resulted in staff of the prison finding contraband, meaning 98.5 per cent (205 women) of women were forcibly strip searched and found to have no contraband on them.
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JON STANHOPE.
OVER the last eight years, the number of Aboriginal people sent to prison in Australia has increased by just over 50 per cent.
Jon Stanhope.
Without argument, this is a national disgrace.
Over the last eight years, the number of Aboriginal people sent to prison in Canberra has increased by 279 per cent. The highest rate of increase in Australia.
Of the Aboriginal people currently in prison in Canberra, 90 per cent have served a prior sentence of imprisonment. It is the highest recidivism rate in Australia.
An Aboriginal person in Canberra is 19.4 times more likely to be sent to prison than a non-Aboriginal person. The highest rate ratio in Australia.