Aboriginals are calling for bail and diversion hearings to be held in special Victorian courts for indigenous people that currently provide “culturally appropriate” sentencing.
The first Koori Court opened in Shepparton two decades ago and was followed by 16 others across the state where aboriginal criminals who plead guilty get to sit around a table with their family and lawyer, the magistrate, police, Koori Court elders, a Koori Court officer, and Corrections Victoria.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), which regularly campaigns against tough bail laws which it claims are racist, said the Koori Court system should now be expanded to cover more of the judicial process, including bail and diversion hearings, ABC News reported.
The VALS said this would provide “indigenous-centric” support to aboriginal criminals sooner, and CEO Nerita Wright said she hoped to see more changes now the state government has signed a controversial treaty.
Supervising magistrate of Koori Justice, Magistrate Rose Falla, said Koori Courts were closely following the treaty legislation now before state parliament, with suggested reforms that include law changes to reduce the numbers of aboriginals in the criminal justice system.
“It’s ultimately going to be a matter for the community and government to identify what that’s going to look like,” she said.
“I really look on with interest to see where that’s going to land and what it’s going to mean for us, as a court.”
Aboriginal people already get special treatment during bail considerations in Victorian courts thanks to laws that were softened in 2023, but far-left activist groups including VALS are demanding more changes.
Earlier this year VALS blamed bail laws for the overrepresentation of aboriginals in the state’s prisons, saying jail should only be used as a “last resort” and claiming that “granting bail saves lives”.
At a disturbing bail hearing in Bendigo in May, an aboriginal man who threatened to murder two people while already out on bail for spearing another man was told by a magistrate that she had tried “very hard” to keep him out of trouble, The Bendigo News reported.
“I try every single day to keep Aboriginal people out of custody,” said Magistrate Megan Aumair, who had encountered him several times before, before ultimately finding he posed an unacceptable risk to the community and remanding him in custody.
Header image: A Bail Saves Lives protest in Melbourne (VALS).
