Pacific Youth Offending within an Australian Context
| Author | Jioji Ravulo |
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225415584983 |
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
584983YJJ0010.1177/1473225415584983RavuloYouth Justice
research-article2015
Article
Youth Justice
2016, Vol. 16(1) 34 –48
Pacific Youth Offending within an
© The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
Australian Context
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1473225415584983
yjj.sagepub.com
Jioji Ravulo
Abstract
Despite being 1.3 per cent of the total Australian population, Pacific communities are overrepresented in the
youth justice system. This article identifies trends in the interaction Pacific young offenders have with Police,
Children’s Court and Juvenile Justice in New South Wales. Key findings were mapped through comparisons
between 100 young offenders, 49 Pacific, 51 Non-Pacific. Results include Pacific youth feeling vilified by
Police, more time in courts and having issues in complying with supervision requirements under Juvenile
Justice. A need to promote culturally inclusive whole-of-community and whole-of-government approach is
discussed in achieving better responses to assist Pacific youth and their families.
Keywords
children’s court, juvenile justice, minority overrepresentation, Pacific youth offenders, police
Introduction
In Australia, youth justice is the responsibility of state and territory governments.
Variations in the numbers and rates of young people in detention can reflect differences in
youth justice legislation, policy and practice (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare
(AIHW), 2013c).
On an average day in 2012–2013, there were around 6300 young people under youth
justice supervision in Australia due to their involvement or alleged involvement in crime.
The majority were under community-based supervision (84%). Almost 2 in 5 (38%) of
young people under supervision were from the areas of the lowest socioeconomic status.
Of those under supervision, 83 per cent were male with the majority of these aged 14–
17 years. Indigenous youth made up 40 per cent of youth under supervision despite repre-
senting 5 per cent of the total 10- to 17-year-old population. In addition, about half (51%)
of those in detention were Indigenous (AIHW, 2014).
Corresponding author:
Jioji Ravulo, School of Social Sciences and Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW
2751, Australia.
Email: j.ravulo@uws.edu.au
Ravulo
35
Table 1. Pacific people living in Greater Western Sydney (ABS, 2011).
Total Greater Western Sydney Pacific responses
48,041
Total Greater Western Sydney regional responses
1,753,834
Pacific percentage of total Pacific population in Australia
17.2%
Pacific percentage of total Pacific population in New South Wales
52.2%
Pacific percentage of total Pacific population in Sydney
66.5%
Similarly, Pacific Youth are also overrepresented within the Juvenile Justice system
despite people of Pacific backgrounds making up 2.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent of the
national youth population aged 10–14 years and 15–19 years, respectively (Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2011). According to past Juvenile Justice Pacific communities
data on Pacific Youth involved in Juvenile Justice on community-based orders, the major-
ity were Maori followed by Samoan, Tongan and Fijian (NSW Department of Attorney
General & Justice, 2012). This previous and current trend of overrepresentation of Pacific
youth within the juvenile justice system was the catalyst behind a formalised partnership
developed by the New South Wales (NSW) Government with Pacific communities
between 2005 and 2008. During this initiative, key government departments strove to
develop a whole of government approach to counteracting the prevalence of Pacific youth
as being marginalised in various regions across the state, including areas of south west
Sydney (ARTD Consultants, 2007).
Pacific Youth Overrepresentation in Juvenile Justice
The extent of Pacific youth overrepresentation within the Australian Juvenile Justice sys-
tem is evidenced by the alarming statistics garnered from the study. On overall considera-
tion, Pacific communities generally make up between 2.7 per cent of the population across
Greater Western Sydney with the majority living in the Blacktown local government area
(LGA) followed by Campbelltown and Liverpool LGA (ABS, 2011). Yet, young people
from these communities may represent a larger proportion of cases monitored by NSW
Juvenile Justice Community Services in metropolitan Sydney, especially in greater west-
ern Sydney where the largest cohort of Pacific people reside in Australia (NSW Department
of Attorney General & Justice, 2012; Table 1).
Overall, Pacific communities only make up 1.3 per cent of the total Australian popula-
tion (ABS, 2011), also making up 1.3 per cent of the entire population in New South
Wales.
Pacific people in Australia
According to the Australian census data, the Pacific population consists of 23 ethnic peo-
ple groups originating from the South Pacific region, including the islands of Fiji, Samoa,
Tonga, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Indigenous Maori people of New
Zealand. Migration of Pacific people to Australia has occurred since the mid 19th century,
with the ‘blackbirding’ of Melanesians, predominately from Vanuatu, to work on the sug-
arcane plantations in Queensland (Mortensen, 2000). This theme of Pacific people
36
Youth Justice 16(1)
coming to Australia to work on the land has continued through current seasonal work
permits, allowing short-term visas to be granted on the proviso that they return back to
their Island states after the work is completed within that season. Other modern means for
Pacific people to enter Australia has included via New Zealand, where the majority of
Pacific people reside outside their country of origin. During the last 10 years, a steady
growth of Pacific people coming to Australia through their New Zealand citizenship is
evident, with the largest cohort of Maori and Cook Islanders residing across Queensland.
The largest cohort of Fijian, Samoan and Tongan reside in New South Wales, predomi-
nately in areas of western and southwestern Sydney. In essence, both Australia and the
Pacific Island states have benefited from this current trend of migration, with labour
mobility schemes being an underpinning to international trade policies, and the financial
remittances that are sent back to the Island states stimulating these smaller scale econo-
mies (Maclellan and Mares, 2006).
Despite the positive move towards the notion of multiculturalism in Australia since the
1960s, various political groups have had differences in creating equitable polices and
systems that are designed to assist social and community cohesion (Henry and Kurzak,
2013). There is a paucity of literature and current research on the trend of Pacific involve-
ment in the legal system, despite being an ongoing concern. Previous studies on Pacific
communities in Australia have found issues towards cultural dislocation, gang member-
ship and barriers to participation in formal education settings (Francis, 1995). Like other
emerging ethnic groups, Pacific youth may be vilified by the public perception shaped by
media coverage on anti-social behaviour and crime (Collins et al., 2000). Through this
lens, such cohorts of young people may fall victim to stereotyping and labels that perpetu-
ate stigmas, subsequently reiterate marginalisation. Peer group association may be per-
ceived as ‘gang’ membership (Cunneen, 1995), where group mentality may polarise an
individual and their contribution towards further anti-social behaviour. Group ideologies
may form the basis for the young person’s identity, where social skills developed from
their membership is a reflection of their participation in group activities and goals (White,
2002). Interactions with Police has also been seen as problematic, reiterated by feelings of
being vilified and picked on, in turn perpetuating the lack of trust Pacific youth may have
in accessing support if they needed help (White et al., 1999).
Internationally, Pacific youth have been characterised as also overrepresented in the
legal system, including Maori youth in New Zealand (Beecroft, 2013), portraying a con-
sistent characteristic of socioeconomic disadvantage (Carruthers, 2002), participating in
anti-social behaviour through gang membership (Nakhid et al., 2009), depicting social
risk and developmental factors related to the use of violence, alcohol and other drugs
(Fiaui and Hishinuma, 2009) and demonstrating the role gender has on previous negative
life experiences and its impact on offending trajectories (Pasko and Mayeda, 2011).
Research Methodology
The purpose of this research was to gain a further insight into the similarities and differ-
ences that may exist between Pacific and non-Pacific offending, and the possible factors
that may increase the likelihood of anti-social behaviour in Pacific families. At the same
Ravulo
37
time, the study strove to establish a more nuanced understanding of how the legal system
may interface with the unmet social and welfare needs of youth offenders from a diverse
background.
Participants of this study comprised 100 young people, made up of 49 Pacific youth
and 51 non-Pacific youth. By definition, non-Pacific youth were made up of Anglo-
Australians (50%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (35%), Arabic (10%) and
Asian (5%). It has been noted that the experience of young Indigenous Australians in
the legal system has its own complexities (White, 2009, 2013), with various sociocul-
tural...
To continue reading
Request your trial