Little progress105 has been made towards Australia’s 2016 voluntary UPR commitment to improve criminal justice system treatment of people with cognitive disability unfit to plead or found not guilty by reason of mental impairment.106 Australia must address the over-representation of people with disability, including eradicating imprisonment of unconvicted people with disability and enforcing safeguards against indefinite forensic detention. PRISONS Due to historically entrenched and systematic factors, including racism, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are the most imprisoned people in the world. Despite making up 2% of the population, they constitute 28% of all imprisoned people.107 Approximately 50% of imprisoned people in Australia have a disability,108 and up to 73% and 86% of imprisoned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women, respectively, report a psychosocial disability. 109 At least 437 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. 110 Australia must fully implement the findings of the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody and the NT Royal Commission, including closing Don Dale detention centre. Women are the fastest growing imprisoned group. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women made up a third of all imprisoned women in 2018.111 Most are imprisoned for low level offending.112 Domestic violence is both the cause and effect of women’s imprisonment.113 Australian governments must enter into a formal partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to develop national justice and family violence targets to reduce imprisonment.114 Additionally, prison must only be a last resort for primary carers. 115 Investigations of youth detention services, including one Royal Commission, have found repeated breaches of children’s human rights.116 The rights of children in police watch houses in Queensland are being seriously breached.117 Most jurisdictions have multi-billion dollar prison expansion or construction programs without commensurate investment in preventative or diversionary programs. Australia must end prison construction and expansion and instead resource preventative and diversionary programs to reduce imprisonment. POLICE It is critical that independent bodies 118 are resourced119 to investigate potential human rights abuses by police. Australia must ensure that all jurisdictions establish independent investigative bodies that meet international human rights standards.120 Racially discriminatory policing remains prevalent, impacting entire communities. 121 In particular, ‘intelligence-led’ or ‘preventive’ policing models 122 are having adverse and discriminatory impacts, especially on racially marginalised groups.123 Australia must conduct a comprehensive audit into policing law, policy and procedure to identify and eliminate discriminatory impacts, and immediately implement stop & search monitoring and receipting124 to address racial profiling. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples continue to die in custody. 125 11

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