The state government this week began sending letters out to hundreds of people on NSW’s public housing list, telling them they must consent to a criminal background check before being considered for public housing in Surry Hills, Redfern, Waterloo or Glebe. The Community Restorative Centre’s program director, Mindy Sotiri, frequently works in the public housing estates, supporting former prisoners with complex and disadvantaged backgrounds reintegrate into society. Of the 272 drug dealing convictions, 73 were held by Indigenous Australians, or 26%. The state government says it will only apply for serious drug dealing offences but the data on drug dealing is not broken down to allow such an assessment. A spokeswoman for Goward said the suburbs were identified as “high risk areas for drug dealing” in consultation with NSW police.

Source: The Guardian April 04, 2018 21:56 UTC