Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice initiatives
The Queensland Government is committed to reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as victims and offenders in the criminal justice system.
As part of this commitment, the Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) is involved in implementing a number of justice initiatives to ensure fair and just treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within the Queensland justice system.
Community Justice Groups
DJAG currently funds 52 Community Justice Groups (CJGs) in urban, regional and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, to support Indigenous victims and offenders who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
The groups engage with and build the capacity of Indigenous communities to resolve justice-related issues at a community level. It allows for strong links between government agencies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to be forged, based on mutual ownership of the causes of, and solutions to, overrepresentation of Indigenous persons in the criminal justice system.
In November 2010, an independent evaluation of the Community Justice Groups Program was undertaken by KPMG. The government has subsequently released an interim response addressing the recommendations contained within the report.
Evaluation of the Community Justice Groups Program
Murri Court
The Murri Court sentences Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders who plead guilty to an offence which falls within the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court.
The Murri Court provides a forum where Elders, Respected Persons, Community Justice Groups and the offender’s family can be involved in the sentencing process. However, it is the magistrate who makes the final decision and imposes the sentence.
Further information about the Murri Court is available on the Queensland Courts website.
In 2010, DJAG engaged Australian Institute of Criminology to conduct an independent evaluation of the Murri Court.
Evaluation of the Queensland Murri Court: Final report (by Australian Institute of Criminology)
Queensland Indigenous Alcohol Diversion Program (QIADP)
QIADP is a whole of government initiative that commenced as a three year pilot in July 2007. The program focuses on Indigenous defendants charged with offences where alcohol is a factor, and Indigenous parents involved in the child protection system who have an alcohol problem.
The program has been operating in three regions involving outreach to Indigenous communities: Cairns and Yarrabah; Townsville and Palm Island; and Rockhampton and Woorabinda.
The pilot program is funded to continue in conjunction within a framework of other Indigenous justice strategies.
Queensland Indigenous Alcohol Diversion Program - final summative evaluation report
Mornington Island Restorative Justice Project
In partnership with Indigenous Elders, DJAG’s Mornington Island Restorative Justice Project commenced in August 2009. This project works with the community to provide alternative and sustainable community-based dispute resolution services that respect culture and conform to the requirements of the formal criminal justice system.
The Mornington Island project, once completed, may provide a model for the expansion of alternative dispute resolution in Indigenous communities as a viable alternative to entry into the formal criminal justice system.
The involvement of Elders as co-mediators has been a critical factor in the project’s success.
Remote Justices of the Peace Magistrates Court Program
The JP Magistrates Court Program was initiated by the Queensland Government in 1993 as a component of its response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 1991. The program seeks to assist in overcoming the disadvantages that Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people face in coming into contact with the criminal justice system, whether as a victim of a criminal act, an accused person, or otherwise, and offers opportunities to play positive roles within the system and the community.
The Program provides for JP Magistrates (the majority of whom are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) to constitute a Magistrates Court, in the absence of a Magistrate, and to hear and determine charges for simple offences and some indictable offences that can be dealt with summarily, where a defendant enters a guilty plea. For example, JP Magistrates can currently:
- hear offences against local laws
- determine traffic matters
- deal with bail applications
- hear applications for domestic violence orders (where the defendant consents)
- conduct committal hearings (although this power is rarely used and likely to be removed in Stage 2 of the Moynihan Reforms)
- grant adjournments.
In October 2010 DJAG received an independent evaluation of the JP Magistrates Court Program undertaken by Professor Chris Cunneen and associates of Cairns Institute, James Cook University. The Queensland Government has subsequently released a response to the recommendations contained within the report.
Evaluation of the Remote Justices of the Peace Magistrates Court Program