Yes, a large percentage of us had Convict Ancestors and that IS NO shame for anyone to have bear since this country WAS an Intentional Dumping Ground for the Poms.
Most convicts sent here were sentenced for minor crimes such as stealing food to feed their families, etc, some sent here for speaking out against Regime that oppressed them in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
As to the 'problem' of Indigenous Incarcerations, well, in my opinion, and as one who is to some extent part Aboriginal, the problem seems to be that this 'problem (???)' is made up of a few salient parts/points and those being;
A) Those who see the 'problem' from their comfy academic point of view in Universities, etc, ONLY see what they WANT to see,
B) In most Urban areas and small towns/cities throughout the country THERE is BLATANTLY OBVIOUS attitude amongst the younger generations of Aboriginals that " They see themselves as being ABOVE the White Fellas Laws and thus are untouchable," For example, on last Sunday the corner shop no more than 5 minutes walk from my home was held up and robbed by an Aboriginal man aged approx. 20-30 years old with an accomplice waiting in the car outside, the lady at the counter WAS badly traumatised by all of this,she IS very pleasant, kind and wonderful person whom I know quite well. That makes the 3rd robbery to occur in that little group of shops in less than a year and ALL were done by young Aboriginals.
C) IT IS a fact that the Aboriginal Peoples DO get far more SPECIAL services and treatments from the Governments than do other Australians DESPITE what these bleeding-heart Academics would you believe, BUT the BIGGEST wastage of the monies these younger Aboriginal Generations receive IS on Alcohol and Drugs to name but a few,
D) There IS NO incentive for many younger Aboriginals to seek out employment EVEN if there is employment available since, unlike their other Australian counterparts, they CANNOT be DENIED Unemployment Benefits for NOT actively seeking employment, etc.
E) Aboriginal children of School Age ARE given a minimum of $10.00 per week to attend to school, MUST be provided with FREE School uniforms, etc, AND FREE Lunches upon request EVERY School day. YET, there are NO regulations to state that these children MUST attend school 5/7 days for every school semester, instead, they only attend when either, i) it IS convenient for them, or ii) when it is convenient for the parent/s to send them to school, were that to be done by Non-Aboriginal parents/children THERE would be a Truant Officer knocking on the door post-haste.
If one were to come out in regions like this and see what is actually by the occupants to the housing provided for them, they'd be shocked to the core upon seeing good, well constructed, brick and mortar houses with windows smashed out, parts of the tiled roofs torn off and removed, flooring materials such as floorboards torn up and burnt for 'campfires' in both the back and front yards usually amongst piles of rubbish ranging from 2 -3 or more feet in height, inside these houses one can also find, food scraps and rubbish strewn everywhere, dirty nappies just tossed away into corners AND most houses WILL have the toilets blocked up and full the brim with human faeces, etc, etc, these self-same houses have had, at rough estimate, in the last 15+ years a total of 20+ MILLION dollars spent on them, besides the INITIAL Building costs, for renovations/refurbishments alone.
What I have stated here ARE FACTS, 100% TRUE Facts and not, in any, shape nor form RACIST biased comments.