Cannabis law reform
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:30): (200) My question is to the Attorney-General. The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research in New South Wales this month released a study that explored differences in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults’ access to their cannabis cautioning scheme. The study found that among people proceeded against for cannabis possession just 12 per cent of Aboriginal adults were issued with a cannabis caution compared with 44 per cent for non-Aboriginal adults. Even when entirely eligible for a caution, the study found that only 40 per cent of Aboriginal people were cautioned compared with 74 per cent for non-Aboriginal people. So I ask the minister: is there a similar level of inequity of cautioning decisions received by Aboriginal people in the Victorian justice system?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:31): I thank Mr Ettershank for his question. In relation to the statistics that are available in terms of cautioning, that would be something that I could probably ask the Minister for Police to see what information could be furnished. It does not fit within my responsibilities. So I might take that on notice and see how we can break that down. It might not be broken down to the level that would satisfy the specifics of your question, but we can start with what information we can get and go from there.
David Ettershank: I thank the Attorney for her response. I think my supplementary is redundant, because it was basically seeking to get confirmation that we would actually receive that specific data. So we will look at what we receive, and I thank you for that.