101 East

Hope for Australia’s Indigenous

We investigate how the Australian town of Bourke is trying to save their indigenous youth from a life of crime.

Young aboriginal men are severely over-represented in Australian prisons.

But now, residents of a remote town in the country’s outback have had enough.

In the town of Bourke, juvenile detention is almost a rite of passage: nine out of 10 boys who are sent to prison reoffend within 12 months of being released.

Desperate to break this cycle of crime and incarceration, the people of Bourke are turning to a new approach, investing in community programmes rather than prisons.

101 East asks, is this the solution to keeping Australia’s young indigenous boys out of prison?

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