Handling objections for the Community is Everything campaign During your campaigning you’ll be talking to lots of people. This resource outlines some of the objections you might encounter and ways to overcome them. If you encounter a hostile person don’t feel that you must pursue the conversation. It’s okay to provide them with some information and let them go on their way!

Opening lines • Will you help us to close the gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians? • How do you feel about the government separating Indigenous kids from their communities? • Did you know 10 and 11-year-olds are in prison? • Do you agree that all children deserve a childhood? • Indigenous kids are 24 times more likely to be removed from their communities and locked up than their non-Indigenous classmates. Does this statistic shock you? • It costs taxpayers $440,000 to imprison one child for 12 months. Diversionary programs are less than a quarter of the cost.

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Key points in objection handling There are already Indigenous-led community solutions which empower and nurture kids, and are working. I think we can both agree that we want safer communities with less crime. In the long run locking kids up is focussing on detention rather than prevention and there are much more effective solutions, such as helping kids before they get into trouble and if they do, addressing the reasons why. Removing children from their communities and their family will not strengthen a community nor will it address issues of alcoholism, drug taking or domestic violence. Kids thrive in their community. 8/10 success rate for kids using diversionary programs.

Do

Don’t

Focus on the solution and what is possible. Remind people of successes and programs that work.

Don’t get bogged down in conversations about the problem. You might activate prejudices or make people feel disempowered by what can feel like an insurmountable problem.

Empathise with concerns.

Don’t steer the conversation to legal documents (conventions, charters etc) or policy. Not everyone places the same value on these frameworks and it stops people thinking about the human aspect.

Talk about shared ground ie childhood memories and the importance of childhood, community, and a sense of belonging.

Don’t get backed into a conversation that reinforces negative stereotypes.

My house or friend’s house was broken into by Indigenous kids / if you do the crime you should do the time!

It’s true that kids do commit crimes and I think we can both agree that we want a safer community with less crime. Just locking kids up is focussing on detention rather than prevention of crime and there are much more effective solutions towards stopping crime such as helping kids before they get into trouble and if they do, addressing the reasons why. What we’re campaigning for is not that Indigenous kids get off scot-free, but that judges have the discretion to look at what is the best sentencing for a child, including access to programs that get them back on the right track. We want to avoid where possible children entering the justice system where they are exposed to an environment where crime is normalised; 60 per cent of kids who are locked up end up in contact with the justice system again. If kids are allowed to be mentored by community Elders, learn new skills and develop a strong sense of self where they can resist peer pressure, then we could reduce the likelihood of repeat offending. Magistrates have told us that they simply do not have enough options at their disposal, therefore there is a need to invest in existing programs and to develop, in partnership with Indigenous communities, diversionary programs for these kids. These programs focus on helping the child onto a different path, taking them away from the negative influences in their life, connecting them to their culture, role models and building a sense of self and belonging. Afterall, these are children we are talking about – as young as 10 – and they need the opportunity to take another road. These programs also need to work with and support the families of these children so these kids have somewhere safe and happy to return to, that can protect them from getting into trouble again. Communities and families are dysfunctional, there are drug and alcohol problems as well as sexual abuse and kids shouldn’t be sent back / the best place for them is prison.

I think we can all acknowledge that kids need a safe environment in which to grow and develop and that something must be done to ensure that kids have a childhood. It is true to say there is dysfunction in some Indigenous communities; the same can be said of non-Indigenous communities too. The solution is to address what stands in the way of making any community healthy and vibrant. Having strong and healthy connections to our families, our friends and our communities is what creates stability and safety, allowing kids to flourish. This is no different for Indigenous communities. Removing children from their communities and separating them from their family will not strengthen a community nor will it address the issues of alcoholism, drug taking or domestic violence. It will instead add to secondary trauma and send ripples throughout the community. What we saw through our research is that there is incredible strength, passion and commitment to young people in communities and we need to build on that. We give them so much money and it never seems to fix the problem.

Placing kids into jail does cost a lot of money; it costs up to $400,000 a year to lock up one child. What we’re asking for is not more money; but instead using that money spent on locking kids up to be reinvested into programs that would rehabilitate kids. This would help in preventing kids from getting into trouble in the first place. This is called ‘justice reinvestment’ and lots of states in the US are using this approach to great success.

Families need to take more responsibility for their kids.

Yes families do have a role to play and some families need support to be able to care for their kids. Families want to be able to provide the support their kids need, but often their own experiences, histories, situations and often their own trauma have left them without the means to do so alone. That’s why we want to see a holistic approach that provides support across communities. We also need to acknowledge that kids have lots of influences in their lives and while the nuclear family is important, extended family and community is also key to nurturing kids and helping them grow up strong, allowing them to make the right decisions. Community programs can provide a much-needed safe place to go to and foster access to other positive mentors and role models who can support kids. They are over-represented because they’re committing more crimes. Indigenous kids are 24 times more likely to be removed from their communities and locked up than their non-Indigenous classmates, and this needs to be addressed. The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system has been directly linked to the broader issues of social and economic disadvantage, which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience at a disproportionate rate. This includes poverty, mental illness, overcrowding and homelessness as well as drug and alcohol issues. While the underlying causes of crime are complex and varied, evidence clearly demonstrates that people who come into contact with the criminal justice system are highly likely to have experienced severe social and economic disadvantage. Instead of focusing on harsher punishment, efforts to reduce crime and over-imprisonment, we should focus on addressing the underlying social and economic causes of crime, including education, housing, health and mental health, disability, employment, family violence, child removal, and alcohol and drug use. Our campaign is about solutions that will reduce the crime that Indigenous kids commit by supporting solutions and addressing disadvantages, while connecting kids to their community through programs that help them build a sense of belonging and identity. There are victims to these crimes so why are you working for criminals? It’s awful that anyone should be subjected to crime; I agree we need to take steps to address crime. Fortunately we can help kids to stay on the right track in a way more effective way than detention -- kids respond way better to diversion programs than adults, with 80 per cent success rate in keeping kids from re-offending. Other steps in stopping kids committing crime include making sure they aren’t victims of crimes themselves -- we can do this if we have sustainable funding for organisations like the Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service so that kids and the whole community get the support they need to live happy lives.

Publication date: February 2016 Amnesty International Australia ABN: 640 0280 6233 Locked Bag 23 Broadway NSW 2007 [email protected] | www.amnesty.org.au