This is PIAC's submission to the ALRC's Pathways to Justice Inquiry.

Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission to Australian Law Reform Commission re Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Submission, 31 August 2017)

The law places limits on how police operate. Within those limits, police have a large amount of discretion about how they act. The way police use their discretion shapes people’s experiences with the criminal legal system and has been repeatedly linked to the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody.

Police discretion

Aboriginal people are over-represented in police custody, with higher rates of police bail refusal. Following the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, some protections have been implemented to reduce the risks associated with detention.

Document

Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission to Australian Law Reform Commission re Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Submission, 31 August 2017)

Police discretion

Police custody