Self-Determination and Criminal Justice

Since the beginning of 2018 staff in the Indigenous Law and Justice hub have been working with the Aboriginal Justice Caucus (AJC) and the Department of Justice in Victoria on developing Aboriginal self-determination in the area of youth justice.

i) The first project involved producing a discussion paper and conducting a workshop with the AJC and Victoria Police. The discussion paper focussed Aboriginal Youth Cautioning and considered various national and international models for cautioning within the context of self-determination. The report discussed various case studies and also identified barriers and enablers to developing self-determination in the sector.

Reference: Cunneen, C., Porter, A. and Behrendt, L. (2018) Discussion Paper. Aboriginal Youth Cautioning, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, UTS, Sydney.

ii) The second project involved producing a discussion paper on Aboriginal self-determination and the development of an Aboriginal youth justice strategy. The report discussed various issues including Aboriginal community-controlled interventions, conferencing, pre-court and court diversion, bail, sentencing, youth detention and post-release services. It also involved conducting three workshops with the AJC, relevant Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and government representatives.

Reference: Cunneen, C. (2019) Self-Determination and the Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, UTS, Sydney.