Department of Premier & Cabinet Presentation to Policy Advisers Key Policy Issues facing Victoria

SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE CRIMINAL JUSTICE Their Inter-relationship and Impact on Public Health and Well-being

SD/CJ Relationship

CAR report

Social Disadvantage

Measures social disadvantage by postcode area in Vic and New South Wales Poverty concentrated and entrenched in certain areas Strong correlations between disadvantage factors Positive impact of social cohesion

CAR Disadvantage Factors

Social Disadvantage Factors

Unemployment Child Neglect Long Term Unemployment Low Family Income Psychiatric Hosp. Admissions Disability/Sickness Allowance Early School Leaving Year 12 Incomplete Low Work Skills Mortality Court Convictions Imprisonment Low Birth Weight

Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 46

CAR Map Vic

Social Comparison – Vic

Disadvantage Degree of Disadvantage Middle range Degree of Advantage Advantage All others

Unequal in Life Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, [Map 4]

CAR Map Melb

Social Comparison – Melbourne

Disadvantage Degree of Disadvantage Middle range Degree of Advantage Advantage All others Unequal in Life

Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, [Map 5]

CAR Spac Comp Vic 1

Spatial Compression of Disadvantage

Percentage of Victorian Postcode areas needed to account for 25% and 50% of instances of each form of disadvantage Imprisonment TO REACH 25% 2.1

TO REACH 50% 7.3

Child Neglect Long Term Unemployment Psychiatric Hospital Admissions 2.7

2.9

3.5

8.3 8.9

10.6

Disability/Sickness Allowance 3.6

11.2

3.9

11.1

Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 48

CAR Spac Comp Vic 2

Spatial Compression of Disadvantage

(cont’d) Low Birth Weight Year 12 Incomplete Unemployment Low Work Skills Early School Leaving Low Family Income Mortality TO REACH 25% 3.9

3.9

4.1

4.2

4.4

4.5

4.8

TO REACH 50% 11.6

11.8

11.3

11.6

12.4

12.9

13.3

N = 647 Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 48

CAR Social Cohesion Factors

Social Cohesion Factors

Participation in organised recreation/sports groups Volunteering Availability of informal help

Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 46

CAR Low Inc/Imp SC comp

Community Development Interventions Drives a Wedge in the Cycle of Disadvantage Across local populations LOW FAMILY INCOME and IMPRISONMENT are strongly connected (0.55**) with with Low social cohesion High social cohesion Connection grows stronger (0.62) Connection significantly weakens (0.18)

N = 277 **Significant at .01 level Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 79

CAR Unemp/Imp SC comp

Impact of Community Development Interventions (contd) Across local populations UNEMPLOYMENT and IMPRISONMENT are strongly connected (0.65**) with with Low social cohesion High social cohesion Connection grows stronger (0.75) Connection significantly weakens (0.22)

N = 277 **Significant at .01 level Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 79

CAR Early Sch/Unemp SC comp

Impact of Community Development Interventions (contd) Across local populations EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING and UNEMPLOYMENT are strongly connected (0.64**) with with

N = 277 **Significant at .01 level

Low social cohesion High social cohesion Connection remains strong (0.63) Connection significantly weakens (0.28)

Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 79

CAR Unemp/Child Neglect SC comp

Impact of Community Development Interventions (contd) Across local populations UNEMPLOYMENT and CHILD NEGLECT are strongly connected (0.68**) with with Low social cohesion High social cohesion Connection remains high (0.56) Connection drops (0.40)

N = 277 **Significant at .01 level Source: Vinson, T.,

Community, Adversity & Resilience

, Jesuit Social Services, Melbourne, 2004, p. 79

Criminal Justice Main Points

Criminal Justice

Imbalance between crime and prison rates Custodial remand Health of prisoners Impact on general public

Chart, crime/prison rates

Crime rate down but Prison rate up

Source:

Crime Statistics

. Australian Institute of Criminology. Australian crime. Facts and figures 2004 per 100,000 population Violent crime rate Property crime rate 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Prisoners Australia 1994 - 2004

30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 All prisoners Sentenced prisoners Unsentenced prisoners Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004),

Prisoners in Australia

, ABS, Cat No 4517.0, Table 16, p. 31.

Chart, increase in Remand Pop - Vic

Increase in Remand Population - Vic

Victorian prison population, cumulative percentage change per 100,000 adults: 1994-2004

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% -20% 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total prison population Total sentenced population Total remand population Source: ABS,

Community, Prisoners in Australia : 4517.0

, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, 2004, pp. 56-7

Remand Factors

Factors contributing to increase in unsentenced prison population

Crime: - common offences committed by remand population Institutional Factors: - increased time on remand Other: - Lack of stable accommodation and income

Impact of Remand

Impact of Custodial Remand

Likelihood of assault Increased likelihood of guilty plea, or longer sentence Disruption from social support networks and commitments to family Deprivation of civil liberties due to remand in maximum security prisons Increased risk to health and general wellbeing

Financial Cost of Remand

Financial Costs of Custodial Remand $214 million spent on Victorian prisons (2003-4) Average cost per prisoner per day = $204.10

Source: Productivity Commission,

Report on Government Services 2003-2005

: Corrective Services 2003-2005

High Rates of Mental Illness

High Rates of Prisoners with Mental Illness 26% of prisoners met criteria for mental illness 20% met criteria for Major Depression 8% met criteria for Manic Depression (Bipolar) 7% met criteria for Schizophrenia 30% of prisoners surveyed had attempted suicide

Source: Victorian Prisoner Health Studies, DOJ, Feb 2003, p.30 & 36.

High Rates of Prisoners with Hepatitis C

High Rates of Hec C

58% of prisoners tested positive for Hep C Virus 69% of prisoners admit to injecting drugs 18.5% increase in prisoners found to be HCV carriers

Source: Victorian Prisoner Health Studies, DOJ, Feb 2003, p. 90

Impact on Public

Impact on General Public Increased risk of Hepatitis C Infection - over 220,000 Australians already infected - 16,000 new infections each year Increased expenditure on prison construction and operation Decreased expenditure on health and education and early intervention programs