Constitutional Referendum

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In her article ‘Closing the Gap on the Constitutional Referendum’, Castan (2013, p.12) reports that on 13 February 2013, the Federal House of Representatives passed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill. According to Castan (2013) this was the result of the Minister for Indigenous Affairs beginning talks in 2010 regarding the process for a recognition referendum. The following year an “Expert Panel” was deployed to research and recommend on “the options for constitutional change and approaches to a referendum that would be most likely to obtain widespread support across the Australian community” (Castan 2013 p. 13). Castan argues that a sunset clause was put into place to provide “a clear timeframe to build towards…show more content…
According to Young and Solonec (2011) in their article ‘Epidemic Incarceration and Justice Reinvestment, is it Time for change’ the rates of incarceration of Indigenous people, particularly young indigenous, people in Australia today are truly horrific.” The over-representation of Indigenous people in the prison population suggests that the relationship between the Australian State and the First Peoples remains profoundly dysfunctional (Young and Solonec 2011, p. 15). Young and Solonec (2011, p. 15) argue that diversionary and rehabilitation initiatives cost significantly less than prison construction and operation. It is suggested to divert a portion of the funds spent on imprisonment to communities where there is a high concentration of offenders or offending (Young and Solonec 2011, p. 16). Justice Reinvestment can be aimed at investing money in community programs, services and activities to address the underlying causes of crime offending (Young and Solonec 2011, p. 16). Question: Discuss the possible outcomes of incorporating Indigenous laws and customs when administering intervention
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