The Australian Bite

Opals, prison & a voice for indigenous children

23 September 2010

Listen and download: MP3

This week on the Australian Bite, we hear about a new study that questions the effectiveness of   prison sentences – especially short ones dished out for relatively low level crimes. We meet opal miner Dick Wagner in the outback town of White Cliffs, New South Wales and we hear of the challenges faced by indigenous children in Australia and around the world.

Study questions the effectiveness of prison

A new study has shown that prison does not deter criminals from re-offending. The study by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics found that people convicted of burglary or non-aggravated assault were actually more likely to re-offend if they went to prison than those who get a non-custodial sentence. That’s prompted the director of the bureau Dr Don Weatherburn to call for a debate about the role of prisons in society – particularly when it comes to criminals who get short sentences.  David Mark reports.

You can hear this interview and read a transcript at the ABC PM website

A voice for indigenous children

Since its beginnings in 1981, the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Incorporated (SNAICC) has been representing the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children and their families right across Australia. SNAIC is a national peak body whose role is to support and advocate for aboriginal organisations providing out of home care services, child welfare and protection services, as well as early childhood and family support services to aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Recently SNAIC became the convener of the Indigenous Subgroup on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Heather Jarvis spoke to the current Chair of SNAIC, Steve Larkins, about the organisation’s new role at the UN, and how indigenous children are faring in Australia.

Digging for opals

Australia is well known for its large scale mining industry. But all around the country, there are also many small scale miners hoping to come across a big break, or lucky strike – be it gold or precious stones. Dick Wagner is one of the full-time opal miners living and working in the town of White Cliffs in the north-west of New South Wales. He hasn’t come across any opal rock for some weeks now, but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming of hitting the big time again soon. He took reporter Amy Spear eight metres underground to see where he works.

There’s much more on this story, including  photos and audio of Dick talking about how to turn a rough opal into a polished stone, at the ABC Rural website. 

Music (not in podcast)

‘Tomorrow, When The War Began is the name of a new Australian film based on the award winning novel by Australian author John Marsden. To coincide with its release comes this song called Tomorrow. It was written by Nic Cester from the band Jet and Tim Rogers from You Am I, and is performed by Nic, Davey Lane from You am I and Kram from the group Spiderbait.

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