Australia’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion [Official website] on Tuesday rejected a call [press release] from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz [official website] to create specific targets to improve the treatment of Aboriginal peoples. Tauli-Corpuz visited Australia between March 20 and April 3. She noted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represent 3% of the country’s population, but 27% of the country’s prison population. She also noted that 95% of the children who are incarcerated at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Australia has previously started the Closing the Gap strategy which is meant to close gaps between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to that of the general Australian population in the areas of health, education, employment, and others. Tauli-Corpuz recommends that targets on justice be included in this Closing the Gap strategy. Scullion has rejected [ABC News Report] the idea of setting targets on justice, stating that “[t]argets are appropriate in some circumstances in some jurisdictions and not in others.” Scullion also stated that the government does not poses the appropriate “levers” to control the incarceration rates of these groups.

Australia’s treatment of Aboriginal people has drawn criticism from the international community. Tauli-Corpuz’s report criticized several areas of treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, calling [JURIST report] their treatment ‘appalling.’ Last month, another UN rapporteur said that Australia’s policies to prevent violence against women do not benefit [JURIST report] Aboriginal women. In December the UN called on [JURIST report] Australia to end all forms of racial discrimination, including against indigenous Australians. Last July Amnesty International said Australia must address [JURIST report] abuse of child prisoners.