Aboriginal prisoner health industry roundtable

November 2007, Canberra

The CRCAH hosted a research development roundtable on Aboriginal prison health in Canberra in November 2007, in partnership with the Public Health Association of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

The roundtable aimed to bring together community representatives, correction staff (policy, program, management and custodial staff), researchers and advocates in order to:

• identify priority areas for research and evaluation focus areas that specifically assist with improving Aboriginal prisoner health and wellbeing and mechanisms to reduce recidivism
• advocate and support research collaborations that will improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates; and
• share information about best practice (knowledge exchange).

More than 40 delegates shared ideas with each other in what was believed to be the first national forum of its kind. The dialogue at the roundtable is informing the development of a research agenda in Aboriginal prisoner health and recidivism which is being progressed by the CRCAH and other partner organisations.

Key research priorities from the meeting included:

• establishing an evidence base on a range of programmatic interventions in the arrest, remand, sentencing, incarceration and release stages of the prisoner lifecycle
• examining the scope of prison health services and current models of service delivery in prisons, with a focus on continuity of care pre- and post-release 
• exploring ways of addressing the challenge of delivering health services within different jurisdictions across the country, and how to best ensure coordination of service provision within jurisdictions. Identifying systematic mechanisms to support change.

Related resources: 

• Aboriginal prisoner health industry roundtable program 
• Aboriginal prisoner health industry roundtable briefing paper 
• Scott R. Davis & Jenny Brands 2008, Research Priorities in Aboriginal Prisoner Health: Recommendations and Outcomes from the CRCAH Aboriginal Prisoner Health Industry Roundtable, Discussion Paper No.6, CRCAH, Darwin
• Anthea S. Krieg 2006, Aboriginal Incarceration: Health and social impacts, Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 184(10), pp. 534–6
• Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse website