Other Policy Initiatives/Documents
The Children on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands Commission of Inquiry Report (A Report into Sexual Abuse)(2008) (1)
Commissioner Mullighan was appointed to inquire into the extent of sexual abuse of children on APY lands and to make relevant recommendations. The Inquiry was established as a result of, or as part of, the South Australian Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry. The Commissioner ultimately recommended, inter alia, that Government consult with the Courts Administration Authority and others in relation to what services and facilities might be required to improve the operation of courts on APY Lands (Recommendation 46). There were criticisms about the current court system on APY Lands, including in relation to a proposal to establish court rooms as part of police stations. It was further recommended that a corrections facility be established on the Lands for prisoners on remand on a short-term basis, and that prisoners on remand for longer than the short-term be removed from the Lands to the corrections facility at Port Augusta or elsewhere (as determined in the usual way by the Department for Corrections). The care of prisoners for longer than a very brief period, according to the Inquiry Report, requires the expertise of the Department for Correctional Services, and such prisoners ought therefore not to be in the care of police officers.
In response to the findings of Commissioner Mullighan, the Premier announced a joint South Australian and Commonwealth Government package, which included funding for a court/administration centre and an interpreter training/interpreter initiative for courts. (2)
Nunga Court
In June 1999, the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court commenced an Aboriginal Court Day, which is called the Nunga Court by the local community. Since that time, the Junga Court has expanded to other locations in South Australia. The Nunga Court has been credited with increasing the rate of attendance by Aboriginal people at court
and in increasing compliance with court orders. (3)
2. (SA) Department of Premier and Cabinet, (2008) Progress on the Lands: Update on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankungtjatjara (APY) Lands, Premier and Cabinet, Adelaide SA
3. For evaluation of the Nunga Court, see Cannon, A., (2007) ‘South Australia: Nunga Court II - Aboriginal Sentencing Conference', Paper presented at AIJA Indigenous Courts Conference, Mildura, September 2007; Sarre, R, (2005) ‘Police and the public : some observations on policing and indigenous Australians' Current Issues in Criminal Justice 17 (2) : 305-313; Welch, Colleen, (2002) ‘South Australian Courts Administration Authority : Aboriginal Court Day and Aboriginal justice officers', Indigenous Law Bulletin 5 (14): 5-6; and Tomaino, John, Aboriginal (Nunga) Courts (2004) Office of Crime Statistics and Research, South Australia.