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Walking up the path towards the main prison gate, the senses wake up; the stunningly beautiful blue sky, a cacophony of birdsong, and smells from barely pronounceable flora herald the working day.
Morning muster has already started at this low secure women's prison; inmates line up in a row to be counted and fed by the prison officers.
There is a high proportion of First Nations people, incarcerated for mainly low-level acquisitive crime. First Nations people represent 3% of the general population but shockingly 30% of the prison population. Women are over-represented and prison sentences are used when comparable jurisdictions would favour community sanction.
This everyday reality of the impact of colonisation, trauma, discrimination, and disadvantage is particularly poignant as it is National Reconciliation week. This annual event serves as a reminder of the continual struggle for justice and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and marks two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey commemorating important dates in Australia: the 1967 Referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision.
Prior to the 1967 Referendum, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people were not recognised as part of the Australian population. Oppression and control of First Nations people was rampant. The Referendum sought to change the Australian Constitution to address this, with 90.77% of the voters voting “yes” to the changes. The High Court Mabo decision was a significant legal case in Australia as it debunked the myth at the time of colonisation that Australia was “terra nullius” (the land belonged to no one) and recognised the land rights of the Meriam people, traditional owners of the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait. This decision was significant as it gave recognition to the fact that Indigenous people have lived in Australia for many thousands of years prior to colonisation and had land rights according to their own laws and customs.
The patient list at the wom