Open letter to Premier Chris Minns: Don’t turn your back on Closing the Gap

Your new policy to increase youth incarceration:

• is a betrayal of your Closing the Gap commitments
• ignores decades of evidence on how to reduce youth crime
• prioritises punishment over investment in the proven prevention strategies that you promised to implement
• will cause crime to get worse 
• will delay measures that could reduce crime

This is a devastating betrayal of Aboriginal children and other vulnerable groups across NSW. 

This is a devastating betrayal of regional communities who want prevention measures not stunts.

We the undersigned organisations ask you to urgently replace your punishment measures with prevention measures: 

1. Resources allocated for local communities to support after-school, evening and weekend activities that engage at-risk young people.
2. Intensive and targeted programs and responses for at-risk children with appropriate referral services.
3. Formal community partnerships between police and Aboriginal controlled services.

Signed by:

1. Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited
2. NSW Aboriginal Land Council
3. First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN)
4. BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation
5. AbSec – NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation 
6. Link-Up NSW
7. Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts Association Inc (ACHAA)
8. Justice Reform Initiative
9. Redfern Legal Centre
10. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
11. Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
12. Community Legal Centres NSW
13. Centre for Criminology Law and Justice UNSW
14. NSW Council for Civil Liberties
15. Weave Youth & Community Services
16. Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation
17. The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre
18. KWOOP (Keeping Women Out Of Prison)
19. Inner City Legal Centre
20. Sisters Inside Inc
21. Public Interest Advocacy Centre 
22. National Justice Project
23. Nelly’s Healing Centre Aboriginal Corporation
24. Amnesty International Australia 
25. Deadly Connections
26. Dharriwaa Elders Group
27. University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Law (Criminal Justice Cluster)
28. Ngalaya Indigenous Corporation: First Nations Lawyers and Law Students NSW
29. Central Coast Community Legal Centre
30. SNAICC
31. Network of Alcohol and other Drugs Agencies
32. Matana Foundation for Young People
33. Accountable Futures Collective
34. Western Sydney University Justice Clinic
35. Human Rights Law Centre
36. The Refugee Advice and Casework Service
37. Australian Lawyers Alliance
38. Kingsford Legal Centre (UNSW)
39. knowmore
40. ANTAR
41. Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains Community Legal Centre 
42. Community Restorative Centre
43. Women’s Legal Centre NSW
44. Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre 
45. North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA)
46. Sydney Institute of Criminology
47. Human Rights Act for NSW Alliance
48. Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Limited
49. The Rainbow Lodge Program
50. The Far West Community Legal Centre
51. BackTrack Youthworks
52. Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC)
53. Humanity Matters
54. Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service 
55. Reconciliation NSW
56. Change the Record
57. ARACY – Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth
58. Save the Children and 54 reasons
59. Australian Centre for Disability Law
60. Allawaw Aboriginal Corporation