Senate Committee Inquiry into Mandatory Sentencing Bill

The Senate has announced an Inquiry into a new Bill which was proposed by Senator Bob Brown.  This Bill aims to make mandatory sentencing for property offences illegal throughout Australia for anyone, no matter what their age.  The Senate Committee has called for submissions and you can use this form for a short reply or you can develop your own version.

Send submissions to:	The Secretary
	Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee
	Suite S1.108
	Parliament House
	Canberra ACT 2600
or e-mail legcon.sen@aph.gov.au	or fax (02) 6277 5794	ph (02) 6277 3560

I would like to make a submission to the Inquiry.  This is how I feel about mandatory sentencing in the NT:

The Multicultural Council of the Northern Territory Inc supports the Bill proposed by Senator Bob Brown in relation to Mandatory Sentencing.

The Multicultural Council is extremely concerned at the effect of current Mandatory Sentencing legislation in the Northern Territory, which disproportionally impacts on the most vulnerable people in our community: Aboriginal people, people of Non English Speaking backgrounds and people with intellectual disabilities.

We are convinced that there is no evidence that Mandatory Sentencing stops crime. Three years after mandatory sentencing was introduced, property crime rates are virtually static.

Mandatory sentencing is not only a waste of money, as it costs $56,669.90 per year to lock up an adult, and even more for a juvenile, but it is also an unacceptable policy from a human rights perspective, as it takes away the discretionary powers of Magistrates and Judges, and hands them to the Police and to bureaucrats, which is totally inappropriate and unacceptable. 

I am unfortunately not able to be present and speak at the public hearing in Darwin on 3rd August.

Yours sincerely

(name - signed)	………………………………   (name - printed)	Beryl Mulder
President, Multicultural Council of the Northern Territory Inc………………………………...
(address)..GPO Box 3331
Darwin NT 0801