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Blog

Spent Convictions Bill 2020 in Parliament

Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessey introduced the Spent Convictions Bill 2020 into the Victorian Parliament in October, and it is likely to be debated in the coming weeks. If passed, this legislation will bring Victoria in line with other Australian jurisdictions and will remove some of the obstacles to people’s successful rehabilitation.

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Blog

Restorative justice in forensic mental health settings – report by student Eliza Hew

Historically, people with serious mental illness have not been included in restorative justice practices, with exclusion hinging on the assumption that this population do not have the capacity to meaningfully participate. More recently however, literature suggests that this assumption is unsubstantiated (and discriminatory); there exist significant potential benefits for patients, staff, victims and the broader community.

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Blog

Restorative justice can enhance the rights of people with a disability living in group homes

The justice system can on the one hand fail to recognise serious victimisation as criminal offending when experienced by people with disability, while being unable to imagine alternatives to the criminal justice system in responding to complexity.

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White Butterfly
Blog

Finding my voice and sharing my lived experience

A call for lived experience to inform criminal justice system reform

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Blog

Responding restoratively to Covid -19?

Although we are still confronted daily with the immediate consequences of Covid-19, at Open Circle we are beginning to turn our minds to the future. What will our daily life, work and relationships look like when this pandemic is over, and how can we respond with a restorative lens?

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OC process image
Blog

Answering your questions about restorative justice and how it can complement the justice system

The Centre for Innovative Justice recently held a live webinar during Law Week in May 2020. The webinar features Centre for Innovative Justice and Open Circle staff Renee Handsaker, Anna Howard and Stan Winford discussing restorative justice and how it can complement the justice system.

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Illustration of people
Blog

Answering your questions about disability in the justice system

The Centre for Innovative Justice recently held two events focusing on the experience of people with disability in the criminal justice system, and their capacity to lead change.

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Blog

Open Circle and Restorative Justice During Covid-19

Restorative justice services around the world are being impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and are developing their responses accordingly. At Open Circle, we too are working hard to adapt to the rapidly changing circumstances, whilst continuing to provide quality restorative justice processes to our community. The safety of service users and staff is of paramount importance to us.

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Blog

Voices of adolescents should not be another casualty of this pandemic

In early March, just before the impacts of COVID-19 really started to be felt in Victoria, the CIJ was thrilled to launch the PIPA Project report. This report highlighted the way in which the current one-size-fits-all response to family violence may be doing more harm than good when it comes to adolescents who use violence in their homes.

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illustration of woman in front of prison bars
Blog

COVID-19 and incarcerated women: a call to action in two parts – Part Two

In this two-part series, we draw on our work with partner agencies and people with experiences of imprisonment to argue for women to be prioritised for bail or early release from Victorian jails. This is in advance of a broader CIJ Discussion Paper regarding the imperative for decarceration of women, to be released towards the middle of the year. In the second of this two-part discussion, the CIJ explores the impact on women of measures to manage viral infection in Victoria’s prisons.

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Blog

Financial Counselling help during COVID-19

During these stressful times, it can be daunting and hard to navigate financial assistance systems. Below are some resources from our Financial Counsellor, Sarah Davidson

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illustration of woman in front of prison bars
Blog

COVID-19 and incarcerated women: a call to action in two parts – Part One

In this two-part series, we draw on our work with partner agencies and people with experiences of imprisonment to argue for women to be prioritised for bail or early release from Victorian jails. This is in advance of a broader CIJ Discussion Paper regarding the imperative for decarceration of women, to be released towards the middle of the year. 

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Blog

New justice responses must prioritise Indigenous voices

There’s been a recent shift in the politics of Indigenous affairs. After a period of paternalism, the pendulum has begun to swing back in the direction of self-determination.

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Blog

Court Innovation during COVID-19 Crisis

Often out of adversity comes opportunity. COVID-19 is disrupting all aspects of our lives at the moment and will continue to do so for months.

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Blog

Launch of the PIPA project – Positive Interventions for Perpetrators of Adolescent violence in the home (AVITH)

The launch of the PIPA project on Tuesday 3 March was a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come in the CIJ journey – as well as how much still lies ahead.

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Blog

Restorative justice can help victims heal

Research by the CIJ has found that restorative justice can meet the needs of victims in ways the adversarial system cannot.

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Blog

Where professional privilege is blurred

There is a risk that information held by legal practices with interdisciplinary programs could be subpoenaed and used against their clients.

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Blog

Improving victims’ experiences of the justice system

The CIJ's study for Victoria's Office of Public Prosecutions provides a unique insight into what victims want from the prosecution process.

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Blog

Reversing the trend of mass incarceration – do prisons have a role?

Some simple steps to start turning the tide on Victoria's prison population.

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News, Blog

Financial Counselling at LACW and MHLC!

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has provided funding to the CIJ to employ a financial counsellor to deliver services to women in the criminal justice system affected by gambling.

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Blog

Supporting Justice update

Work is progressing well on the CIJ’s Supporting Justice project which, through two streams of work, aims to design better justice responses for people with a cognitive impairment and/or complex needs in Victoria. 

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Blog

Where are they now? David Mejia Canales

The CIJ catches up with past RMIT Juris Doctor student David Mejia Canales to find out what he's been up to.

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Blog

Problem solving courts

Some lessons from New Zealand

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Blog

Making irrelevant convictions history

Victoria is the only Australian state without spent convictions legislation. This means that even trivial offences from decades ago can still appear on police criminal record checks.

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Centre for Innovative Justice

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Wurundjeri Country

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Phone: 03 9925 7249

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