Aboriginal people are grossly over-represented in Australia's courts and gaols. Despite numerous inquiries, State and Federal, and the considerable funds spent trying to understand this phenomenon, nothing has changed. Indigenous people continue to be apprehended, sentenced, incarcerated and die in gaols. One part of this inexorable process is the behaviour of the police. Drawing on research from across Australia, Chris Cunneen focuses on how police and Aboriginal people interact in urban and rural environments. He explores police history and police culture, the nature of Aboriginal offending and the prevalence of over-policing, the use of police discretion, the particular circumstances of Aboriginal youth and Aboriginal women, the experience of community policing and the key police responses to Aboriginal issues. He traces the pressures on both sides of the equation brought by new political demands. In exploring these issues, the author argues that changing the nature of contemporary relations between Aboriginal people and the police is key to altering Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system, and a step towards the advancement of human rights.

Author Biography

Chris Cunneen is Associate Professor in Criminology and Director of the Institute of Criminology, Sydney University Law School. He has published widely on Aboriginal people and the criminal justice system, and is the co-author of Indigenous People and the Law in Australia (1995) and Juvenile Justice: An Australian Perspective (1995). He co-edited Faces of Hate: Essays on the incidence and nature of hate crime in Australia (1997).