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

Scroll down to continue reading our full 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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Need for safe and supported processes for reaching protection orders by consent greater than ever before

The CIJ is thrilled to be able to release research it conducted to support implementation of Recommendation 77 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence – More than just a piece of paper. Getting protection orders made in a safe and supported way.

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Building a more ‘victim-led’ system means asking victims of crime what they want – Part Two

In this two-part series, we outline our findings from research conducted in 2019 which involved in-depth interviews with 37 victims of crime across Victoria to understand what they wanted and needed from the victim services system, and whether it was meeting their expectations. We encountered a diverse range of needs and circumstances, as well as surprising insights into how we can improve support for people who have experienced crime.

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Cognitively impaired admitting to crimes they say they didn’t commit

No one told Dorothy Armstrong in her first ever police interview she was allowed a support person; someone to help understand the jargon, comfort her, encourage her description of who attacked her and how.

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New ANROWS project announced!

Building directly on the PIPA project, Elena Campbell and CIJ are leading the new ANROWS funded project 'WRAP around families experiencing adolescent violence in the home (AVITH)' to develop a framework for comprehensive support and earlier intervention.

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Review of the Literature on Integrated Social Work and Legal Practice

In Semester 2 of 2020, Master of Social Work students, Anushia Andrews and Lauren Tarver, completed a project-based Field Education 2 placement at the Law and Advocacy Centre for Women researching integrated practice, with a particular focus on social work support in community legal settings.

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How reducing women’s imprisonment can further fiscal recovery

Women’s incarceration rates have skyrocketed across Australia at great cost to disadvantaged Australians and the economy more broadly. As we move towards economic recovery, we must remember those for whom the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been especially acute.

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Women Transforming Justice – Final Evaluation Report released!

December 2020 marks 10 years since the UN adopted the Bangkok Rules - recognition that women in contact with the criminal justice system require gender-specific, non-custodial responses. Our evaluation of the Women Transforming Justice project shows the value of gender specific approaches to addressing unacceptable rises in women's incarceration in Victoria. Look out for more in 2021 around this vital issue.

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Criminal record reform to provide more opportunities for rehabilitation

After years of consultation, lobbying, research and engagement, Victoria is about to become the last state in Australia to have its own spent convictions’ legislation.

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