COMMUNITY CONFERENCING AND THE FICTION OF INDIGENOUS CONTROL

The paper analyses the use of community conferencing for young people in various jurisdictions in Australia in the light of its impact in in digenous communities. It argues that the manner in which these program s have been introduced has ignored Aboriginal rights to self-determina tion and has grossly simplified Indigenous mechanisms for resolving co nflicts. in most jurisdictions, community conferencing has reinforced the role of state police and done little to ensure greater control ove r police discretionary decision-making. The changes have also been int roduced in the context of more punitive law and order policies, includ ing mandatory minimum imprisonment terms and repeat offender legislati on for juveniles. The end result is likely to be greater bifurcation o f the juvenile justice system along racialised boundaries, with indige nous youth receiving more punitive outcomes.