Kids are 28 times more likely to be detained than other Australian kids
(AP) - For Australian Aborigines, life in the Outback has grown so bleak, jail is not only more appealing, it has nearly become a rite of passage for teens. A parliamentary report last week called the worsening situation a national crisis, noting the imprisonment rate for indigenous Australians has soared 66% in the past decade. Persistent unemployment, disease, and alcoholism have worked against 40 years of government efforts to help the 517,000 indigenous living on the fringes of society. Aborigines make up 2.3% of the country's 22.6 million people, but about 25% of Australia's adult prison population is Aboriginal. More»
