NCJ Number
92918
Date Published
1983
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The historical use of the Australian police to implement official policies of oppression against Aborigines and the current use of laws, particularly the public order code, against Aborigines in a discriminatory way have created a pattern of conflict that is likely to continue unless the police adopt a more positive and knowledgeable posture toward Aborigines.
Abstract
The arrival of the first white settlers in Australia in 1788 produce a declaration that all land belonged to the British. In resisting dispossession, the Aborigines became a persistent threat to British policies of expansionism. In 1825, the government established the mounted police to enforce the displacement of the Aborigines. Although legislation was eventually established to mandate the protection and care of the Aborigines, it involved the use of reservations controlled by the police. It is not surprising, then, that the Aborigines view the police as an oppressive force. The police, on the other hand, have a generally negative and prejudicial view of Aborigines as being unruly, disposed toward criminality, and unwilling to accept police authority. The police are particularly active in applying Section 5 of the Offenses in Public Place Act to deal with dissent from authority of Aborigines, which may involve the use of unacceptable language as well as behavior in the presence of the police, even though no serious crime is involved. Some of the tension between the police and Aborigines communities is created and reinforced by police officers' lack of knowledge of Aboriginal culture and what it means to be an underclass economically and socially. Until the police have such an understanding and display it in interactions with the Aborigines, relationships between them are not likely to improve.