Working with the Federal Government to Develop Justice Reinvestment in First Nations Communities
On 25 October 2022, the Australian Government announced a commitment to funding of $81.5 million for justice reinvestment. This commitment includes $69 million for place-based community-led justice reinvestment initiatives for up to 30 communities and $12.5 million to establish an independent National Justice Reinvestment Unit to coordinate and support justice reinvestment initiatives at a national level. This funding is for a four-year period, commencing in 2022-2023. The commitment will be ongoing, with $20 million of annual funding for justice reinvestment from 2026-27.
The Government has initiated a co-design process with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities/key organisations and consultations with government and non-government stakeholders to consider the design of the following:
- A National Justice Reinvestment Grants Program that best suits the needs of First Nations communities wanting to access the above funding
- An independent National Justice Reinvestment Unit.
The Indigenous Law and Justice Hub has been appointed by the Government to facilitate the co-design and consultation process. We have produced a Community Resource and a Key Issues Paper for this process.
Jumbunna has now completed co-design for the Commonwealth’s National Justice Reinvestment Grant Program, available as a final report.
We have also been centrally involved with the Attorney Generals’ Department in rolling out the Federal Government’s commitment to developing justice reinvestment at the community level. We have been working in a partnership with Ninti One and JRNA to provide readiness support to multiple communities across all Australian states and territories. Some of the communities we have been working with have successfully accessed grant funding and others are in the process of applying for funds. There are three funding rounds across 2023, 2024 and 2025.
