Alcohol Use and Incarceration in a Police Lockup among Aboriginals in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia

Abstract

Data from a general population survey of a stratified random sample of 516 Aboriginal men and women over the age of 15 years in the Kimberley region of Western Australia were used to estimate patterns of incarceration in police lockups and their relationship to self-reported alcohol consumption. Participants in the survey were asked about their lifetime experience of incarceration in police cells, and about their frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. Estimates of the population risk of incarceration indicated that 81% of Kimberley Aboriginal men, and 37% of Kimberley Aboriginal women have been locked up in police cells. Alcohol use was strongly related to the risk of being locked up in police cells, and the risk was higher among current drinkers who were of full rather than mixed Aboriginal descent. Urgent action is required to reduce rates of incarceration in police cells among Kimberley Aboriginals. In addition to the decriminalisation of public drunkenness, action needs to be taken to reduce the prevalence of heavy alcohol use, and to improve the social and economic conditions in which Kimberley Aboriginals live.