Abstract
What impact does 'Aboriginality' have on sentencing? The High Court handed down a long-anticipated decision in Bugmy v The Queen on 2 October 2013. While the decision was reported with much fanfare for finding that the effects of profound childhood deprivation do not diminish over time, its implications are disappointing and may do little to reduce disparity in Aboriginal incarceration rates. The emphasis placed by the Court on extremely broad sentencing discretion, as well as a distinction perpetuated between individualised justice and equal justice, are both of considerable concern in light of the fact that 'over the last two decades, Aboriginal imprisonment rates have grown significantly rather than declined'6 and that the 'core underlying factors that the Royal Commission [into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody] identified as explaining the disproportionate number of Indigenous people in custody, including poor relations with police, alcohol and substance abuse, poor education, unemployment, inadequate housing and entrenched poverty' are unchanged.
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