Student placement kicking goals

As students in the closing months of our Master of Social Work, we are currently undertaking our final placement at the Law and Advocacy Centre for Women (LACW), a community legal centre that provides legal and case management support for women with criminal matters and other legal issues such as child protection and VOCAT.

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New meets old as innovative justice moves into Melbourne’s Old Magistrates’ Court

Melbourne’s Old Magistrates’ Court, built on the site where high profile trials including those of bush-ranger Ned Kelly and 1920’s gangster ‘Squizzy” Taylor were held, is being re-energised with the arrival of RMIT’s Centre for Innovative Justice (CIJ).

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Innovative Justice in Aotearoa New Zealand

My recent visit to the Alcohol and other Drug Treatment Court (AODTC) in New Zealand confirmed absolutely that addressing the underlying causes of offending and providing holistic, wrap around support services for people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol is a much smarter way of delivering justice for defendants, victims and the community more generally.

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New report highlights benefits of early legal and social support for young people using violence in the home

The Report highlights that early, specialist legal and non-legal support and pre-court negotiations, often results in timely and effective outcomes for young people, reduces harmful contact with the justice system and improved safety for their families.

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What’s next for a Charter of Rights post-election?

This webinar, hosted by the Human Rights Law Centre discusses the difference a National Charter of Human Rights can make to people’s lives.

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August 2022 Newsletter Stories

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Spent Convictions Orders for more serious convictions commence 

The significant advocacy of the Criminal Records Discrimination Project has led to the Vic Government introducing a legislated spent convictions scheme which prohibits discrimination against people on the basis of an irrelevant criminal record.

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Heeding lived experience vital for improving justice outcomes

The criminal justice system is failing people with disabilities, women and Aboriginal Australians, a panel presented by the CIJ at the Future/Inclusive festival heard last week.

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Healthcare Heroes

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Student update for Semester 1, 2022

This semester the Centre are hosting two Bachelor of Social Work students on field education placements.

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Signposts to perpetrator change

Courts and statutory authorities regularly make decisions about a perpetrator’s level of risk to adult and child victim-survivors without much information about the type and nature of risk that he may continue to pose. In the absence of any more detail, these authorities often look to measures such as an individual’s attendance at a MBCP as an indication of reduced risk.

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Future-proofing research – the challenges of building an evidence-base during COVID-19

As we tick over the two-year mark since the onset of the pandemic, it is worth reflecting on our achievements, as well as the challenges of conducting research and reform activities during this time. Like everyone, the CIJ paused and then pivoted as we explored how to work in drastically changed circumstances, with uncertainty the only constant.

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WRAP Around Families starting to wrap up!

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The first victim

With only 1 in 100 victims of sexual assault ending up reporting to police, being believed, going through a committal and a trial which results in conviction, we must offer victims more than just the adversarial process. Article by Gina Rush with contributions from CIJ Open Circle's Nareeda Lewers and Renee Handsaker.

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Getting justice right for women – Podcast

Late last year, Associate Director, Elena Campbell, lead author, Catherine Caruana and Lived Experience Adviser, Dorothy Armstrong shared key insights from our research and from the lived reality of women navigating a justice system designed primarily for men.

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December 2021 newsletter stories

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‘I felt lighter’: Restorative Justice gives sex crime survivors a different way forward

“It’s about who has been harmed and how can we respond to that in a way that recognises their experience and is beneficial to them.”

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Calls for law and order rethink as the number of women in jail soars

“Prison didn’t help me. Prison further damaged me.”

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Answering your questions about ‘Finding a job with a criminal record – what new spent convictions laws mean for you’

Our Law Week event, held on 17 May 2021, aimed to provide jobseekers, particularly Aboriginal people who have a criminal record, with information and guidance to present their strongest case for employment to an employer.

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Australia going backwards, not forwards, on raising the age of criminal responsibility

This week, the Centre for Innovative Justice joins 75 other organisations to call for action by all Australian states and territories to raise the age of criminal responsibility.

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Open Circle’s Anna Howard on Done by Law

Anna discusses restorative justice services and shares the work of Open Circle.

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Spent convictions scheme passes Victoria’s upper house

"It's been a long and emotional journey but with this new legislation I hope my mob and all Victorians won't have to face as many barriers as I have in the past," Wakka Wakka woman, Naomi Murphy.

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Meet me halfway

This piece is written by Dorothy Armstrong, CIJ Adviser & Peer Support Worker, on her experience in giving evidence to the Disability Royal Commission.

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