Working in partnership and governance
This Strategy has been developed under the umbrella of Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja (AJA4), the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
Its success relies on the maintenance of strong relationships with Aboriginal Justice Caucus, Aboriginal people, community and organisations and young people, as well as other departments. All parties are critical to implementing the actions in this Strategy.
The Aboriginal Justice Agreement governance groups will oversee the implementation of this Strategy.
This Strategy has been developed under the umbrella of Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja (AJA4), the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
Its success relies on the maintenance of strong relationships with Aboriginal Justice Caucus, Aboriginal people, community and organisations and young people, as well as other departments. All parties are critical to implementing the actions in this Strategy.
The Aboriginal Justice Agreement governance groups will oversee the implementation of this Strategy.
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Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement
Wirkara Kulpa
- Aboriginal Justice Forum - The Aboriginal Justice Forum embodies the partnership between the Victorian Government and the Aboriginal community and brings together the most senior representatives from Victoria’s Aboriginal communities and the justice, human services, health, and education portfolios to oversee the Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
- Aboriginal Justice Caucus - A self-determining body, made up of Aboriginal community members of the Aboriginal Justice Forum, providing state-wide Aboriginal representation, leadership, and a strong voice for Aboriginal people.
- Youth Collaborative Working Group - Implementation of this Strategy will be monitored through the Youth Collaborative Working Group. Implementation progress reports will be provided regularly to the Aboriginal Justice Caucus through the Aboriginal Justice Forum. In addition, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation subcommittee of the Youth Collaborative Working Group will be established to provide operational oversight of initiatives.
Aboriginal Youth Justice
Aboriginal Youth Justice within the Department of Justice and Community Safety provides the backbone support for the implementation of this Strategy, as well as policy and secretariat support for the Youth Collaborative Working Group.
Aboriginal Youth Justice is responsible for coordinating the development and delivery of Aboriginal Youth Justice policy and programs as well as managing Aboriginal Youth Justice operations.
Aboriginal Youth Justice builds capacity in the department and Aboriginal community to develop and deliver effective and efficient justice services and initiatives through a partnership approach.
Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation of Wirkara Kulpa will progress through the Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja (AJA4) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. All monitoring and evaluation activities will be consistent with the standards listed in the AJA4 to ensure they are respectful of Aboriginal values as well as accepted guidelines for conducting ethical research (Appendix 2).
Monitoring and reporting will also inform the annual Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Report and the Victorian Closing the Gap Implementation Plan.
There will also be regular review to ensure that the Strategy can evolve or be updated to ensure it aligns with the Victorian treaty process, including actions, activities and supporting governance arrangements.
The document has been designed as an outcomes-based strategy to best communicate our key priorities and what success looks like. In this way, it also provides flexibility to add new actions over the life of the Strategy based on emerging government and Aboriginal community priorities and actions.
Our targets and milestones
Wirkara Kulpa aligns with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework commitment to ensuring that Aboriginal children and young people are not over-represented in the youth justice system. The Strategy outlines two milestones, which if met, will indicate that we are on track to meet these commitments, and related targets.
Victorian Justice targets
In 2012, the Victorian Government introduced the Aboriginal justice targets, committing to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people under justice supervision, outlining the target below:
- Victorian Aboriginal Justice target: By 2031, close the gap in the rate of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people aged 10-17 under youth justice supervision
- Milestone 1: Reduce the average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (10-17 years) under youth justice supervision by at least 39 by 2025-26
To illustrate the level of change required to get on track to reach this target, Milestone 1 translates the existing Victorian target to show how many fewer Aboriginal children and young people would need to be under youth justice supervision in 2025-26, to close the gap by 2031.
There were 81 Aboriginal children and young people under youth justice supervision (in detention and on community-based orders) on an average day in 2019-20 (a rate of 7.9 per 1,000 Aboriginal children and young people). To stay on track to close the gap by 2031, there needs to be fewer than 42 Aboriginal children and young people under youth justice supervision on an average day in 2025-26 (a rate of 3.9 per 1,000 Aboriginal children and young people).
National Agreement on Closing the Gap
In 2020, the Australian Government introduced the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, committing to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people under youth justice supervision, agreeing to the target below:
- National Agreement on Closing the Gap target: From 2018-19 to 2030-31, reduce the rate (per 10,000) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people (10-17 years) in detention by at least 30 per cent
- Milestone 2: Reduce the rate (per 10,000) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (10-17 years) in detention on an average day by at least 1.5 by 2025-26
In 2018-19, the rate (per 10,000) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (10-17 years) in detention in Victoria was 17.6. Meaning that the rate (per 10,000) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (10-17 years) in detention needs to be 12.3 or lower by 2030-31 to meet the National Agreement on Closing the Gap target.
The rate (per 10,000) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (10-17 years) in detention in Victoria was 15.3 in 2019-20, meaning that to stay on track to meet the Australian Government National Agreement on Closing the Gap target, the rate (per 10,000) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people (10-17 years) in detention needs to be 13.8 or lower by 2025-26.