By Linda Kurti, National Director
Urbis is partnering with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation, Aboriginal consultants Karen Milward (Karen Milward Consulting), Graham Gee and Alan Thorpe (Dardi Munwurro) and with renown forensic clinical psychologist Professor James Ogloff, to deliver the 2016-2018 evaluation of the first Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Plan for Victorian prisoners.
With the tabling of the eighth Closing the Gap report in Federal Parliament this week, we have heard much about the disparities in incarceration rates between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.
Compounding high rates of incarceration, within the prison context, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners fare markedly worse on many health and wellbeing indicators compared to other prisoners. A 2013 study which was a precursor to the Plan found that ” excluding substance misuse disorders, 71.7% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and 92.3% of women had received a lifetime diagnosis of mental illness” (Ogloff et al, 2013).