Melbourne, Australia – More indigenous people are behind bars in Australia than ever before, making them the most imprisoned people in the world.
Despite making up 3.8% of the national population, Indigenous Australians make up 33% of the prison population and are 17 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous people.
In the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, a group of artists are working to break the cycle.
The torch is a community-led organization that works with Indigenous inmates to teach artistic skills and reconnect inmates with their cultural heritage. Prisoners also generate income by selling their works in galleries and to private collectors across the country, with the money held in a trust fund, ready for their release.
The results have been surprising – inmates involved in the program have a 17 percent return to prison (recidivism) rate for First Nations prisoners, compared to the national average of more than 70 percent, according to The Torch .
“Before I went to prison, I was experiencing domestic violence and was on the verge of homelessness,” Stacey Edwards, a former inmate, told Al Jazeera. “My Torch fund helped me put a house down and I now have a routine and structure. I’m okay with who I am and my place in the world.”
What experts call the “hyper-incarceration” of Indigenous people in Australia is a legacy of colonization and its racism, as well as successive governments’ focus on law and order. In particular, the trauma of the Stolen Generations – the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families – continues to resonate.
In the state of Victoria, where the Torch program operates, around half of all indigenous people were directly affected by assimilation policies, which only ended in the 1970s.
Edwards, from the Taungurung and Boonwurrung nations, is one of them, telling Al Jazeera that the legacy of trauma underscored his descent into drug use and, eventually, prison.
Stacey, now 43, grew up in a poorer neighborhood. She told Al Jazeera that her grandfather was forcibly taken and placed in white-run institutions, a separation that marked her mother’s life.
“My mother’s ability to parent was affected, she also had her own addiction issues,” she said. As a child, Stacey also felt intergenerational trauma.
“I didn’t have the emotional tools to self-regulate and get myself together,” she said. “I think all of this is pain, all of the challenges and struggles and the hurt and pain passed down from generation to generation.”
Colonial legacy
Indigenous women – many of them mothers – are the fastest growing group of prisoners in Australia, largely due to domestic violence and experiences of homelessness.
But the economic benefit of Torch – which ensures inmates have a source of funds when they are released – helps break that cycle.
Indigenous Australians come from more than 500 nations in what is now known as Australia, which was colonized by the British in 1788.
Genocidal practices, historical discrimination and ongoing racism have fueled inequality across all social indicators, including homelessness, unemployment and poverty, which are also factors underpinning incarceration.
Kent Morris, from the Barkindji Nation, was one of the founding organizers of the Torch in 2011. He told Al Jazeera that the economic model was crucial to the success of the program and that one of the big questions when it began was how artists could earn income. with their work while they are stuck in prison.
“How can the skills and talents of a crowd in prison who create art and explore culture – how can that translate into some economic support, so that they don’t face the same circumstances that land them back in prison? That’s what the program was built around,” he said.
In Australia, inmates can earn some income while participating in prison programs and training, but because the Torch model allows them to sell their work in galleries outside of prison walls, it is unique.
In 2023, more than A$1 million ($665,785) was returned to 494 participants through the sale and licensing of their artwork, with the proceeds saved or used to help inmates’ families, such as ensuring their children attended the school.
Roey, a former prisoner from the Warumungu and Yawuru nations, told Al Jazeera that the Torch program meant he could continue to support his children despite being in prison.
“Being able to support my children while I was in prison was probably one of my greatest achievements,” he said. “Supporting my children and being able to practice my culture in this process and feel good about myself.”
‘Perfect storm’
Along with the economic benefit, the Tocha program also reconnects artists with their indigenous culture, language and heritage, a link that has often been broken due to colonization.
Sean Miller, from the Gamileroi nation, told Al Jazeera that the Torch helped him find a sense of identity.
“I really wanted to learn more about my culture,” he said. “It’s something that’s built into you; you strive to find out where you come from, what your people are, what our culture and language are. Because of the colonization that was taken from us. Having the opportunity to learn all of this, I’m very proud of that.”
Miller has exhibited his work nationally and is one of seven ex-convicts now working on the Torch program. In 2018, he returned to prison to deliver the program to other inmates.
“It gave the brothers and sisters inside the prison a little more comfort knowing that I was a former prisoner,” he told Al Jazeera. “They can relate to me and they can also see that they can be successful with their art too.”
Despite Torch’s success, the program only works in the state of Victoria and has not yet been implemented elsewhere. It is not funded by the federal government in Canberra and largely depends on philanthropy and grants from the state government.
Experts say recent government decisions at federal and state levels – such as the Queensland Labor government’s suspension of human rights protections to incarcerate Indigenous children in adult prisons – are exacerbating the incarceration crisis.
“The main causes of the unprecedented mass imprisonment of First Nations people are state policies and practices,” Thalia Anthony, a criminologist at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), told Al Jazeera. “Statistics do not show higher levels of crime. Expanded police powers and stricter laws on bail, sentencing and parole contributed to the growth. When you combine these political drivers with systemic racism in the penal system, it’s a perfect storm for the hyper-incarceration of First Nations.”
In 1991, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody presented a report to parliament which showed unequivocally that the high rate of Indigenous deaths in prisons was correlated with the high number of Indigenous prisoners.
The report made 339 recommendations with a primary focus on reducing the incarceration of indigenous peoples. However, many of the recommendations were never implemented and the number of indigenous prisoners increased exponentially in the following years. Recent data published by Australian Bureau of Statistics show that between 1994 and 2021, the number of indigenous prisoners increased by 10,241, from 2,798 to 13,039 prisoners.
During this period, more than 550 indigenous people died in prison. In 2022-2023, 21 indigenous prisoners died in custody, the largest since records began.
Policy change needed
Josh Kerr – former Torch participant – was one of them. He died in Port Phillip Prison in Victoria.
A coronial inquest heard that the 32-year-old, from the Yorta Yorta and Gunnaikurnai nations, allegedly screamed “I’m dying” and remained unresponsive for 17 minutes before medical assistance was provided, despite being seen on CCTV by prison staff .
Kerr’s artwork produced as part of the Torch program was displayed at the entrance to the court.
“At the recent inquest into Joshua Kerr’s death in custody, we honored Joshua by including his Torch portfolio in the coronial document and displaying his art outside of court,” Ali Besiroglu, the lead lawyer on the case, told Al Jazeera. “Joshua’s mother, Aunt Donnis Kerr, believed this was crucial to showcasing his profound talent, deep cultural connection and humanizing his memory beyond the forensic documents that commonly consume the coronial document.”
In response to questions posed by Al Jazeera, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney acknowledged the severity and pervasiveness of the problem.
“More than 30 years after the Royal Commission, deaths in custody continue to have a devastating impact on First Nations families and communities,” Burney said in an email. “We know that the key to tackling this national shame is to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering the criminal justice system.”
In this month’s budget, the Australian government announced justice reinvestment strategies, which aim to address the underlying cause of criminal behavior before it occurs, alongside prison-to-employment programs.
“These projects are designed to address factors that increase First Nations people’s risk of contact with the criminal justice system,” Burney said. “Importantly, these justice reinvestment projects are community-led in each individual community.”
While it is Australia’s state governments that largely control legislation on the justice and prison systems, UTS criminologist Anthony says lawmakers across the country need to change the way they look at issues of law and order and see prison as a last resort.
“Any option other than prison would be better than prison,” she said. “Prison is traumatizing. It isolates people from family, homes, jobs and support. The Torch is a great example of developing people’s skills in prison and providing support after release.”
Kent Morris agrees and hopes the Australian government will provide leadership and funding to implement programs like The Torch on a national scale.
“A large part of our community is behind bars. And we know how much potential our community has,” he told Al Jazeera. “We need to free them from the criminal legal system.”
Editor’s note: Details about crimes and sentence lengths were omitted at the request of interviewees. These details can affect parole, job prospects, and relationships.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
