News & Views | RMIT Centre for Innovative Justice

Media

To achieve racial justice, we must self-determine meaningfully

The global spread of the Black Lives Matter movement, triggered by the murder of George Floyd, has forced the Australian mainstream to reckon with the immense scale of Indigenous incarceration and deaths in custody and has created new momentum for change.

News

Reducing barriers to employment for Aboriginal people: Rethinking the Role of Criminal Record Checks Project

This is a Victorian Legal Services Board funded project being carried out by RMIT University in partnership with Woor-Dungin. We are excited to announce that we will soon be welcoming new partners, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (VACCHO) and Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation to contribute to the project.

News

Himilo Community Connect pilot

Banyule has one of Australia’s largest Somali communities. In the 2016 Census, there were 1091 Banyule residents with Somali ancestry. In 2016, consultations were undertaken with the Heidelberg West Somali community to identify the challenges they faced. The consultations revealed that an increasing number of Somali young people from the Heidelberg area are coming into contact with the justice system.

Students

The CIJ’s Student Program and adapting to COVID19

For Semester 2, the CIJ has been working closely with our community legal centre partners LACW, Young Workers Centre and Youthlaw to offer ten online internship opportunities to RMIT Juris Doctor students.

News

Improved accountability: The role of perpetrator intervention systems

The CIJ was thrilled to see the long awaited release of ANROWS funded research into the role of perpetrator intervention systems. This major edited collection – led by Professor Donna Chung from Curtin University – was a collaboration between researchers from multiple universities in different jurisdictions around Australia. This included a number of chapters co-authored by CIJ Associate Director, Elena Campbell, and will serve as a substantial contribution to the growing evidence base concerning perpetrator interventions.

Media

Curfew must involve a plan for those who have no choice but to be out

Few question the necessity of the move to stage four restrictions in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, as tough as the coming six weeks (or longer) are likely to be.

Media

Australian prisons

According to statistics crime rates are falling in Australia but then why are more and more people getting locked up? How do we keep our community safe and prevent people from going to jail?

Media

Human rights under lockdown

The past week has seen Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews taking, what he calls, "extraordinary steps" to enforce at-home restrictions to try and contain the coronavirus, especially for people living in high rise public housing towers. But how far can governments go in a public health emergency before impeding on a person's individual rights and freedoms? And does access to those rights depend on where someone lives?

Media

Lockdown returns: how far can coronavirus measures go before they infringe on human rights?

As of this morning, ten “hot spot” postcodes in Melbourne’s suburbs have gone back into Stage 3 coronavirus lockdown.

News

Financial counselling for women in the criminal justice system – a crucial ingredient in a multidisciplinary, positive intervention

The CIJ has just concluded its ground breaking pilot delivering financial counselling services to women in Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.

Media

Restorative Justice and Aboriginal-led Decision Making

In a week dominated by stories of the Black Lives Matter protests in the US and closer to home protests against Aboriginal deaths in custody and the overincarceration of our First Nations people, we look at promising Aboriginal-led decision-making processes that are helping protect culture and keep Aboriginal people safer through the justice system in Victoria. We're talking restorative justice, and we're also talking about a beautiful possum cloak that's keeping culture real and present in the children's court.

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?

Media

Removing barriers to Aboriginal employment

RMIT researchers have partnered with Aboriginal organisations on a new project to tackle barriers to employment for Aboriginal people.

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.

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.

Students

Life as a social work student experiencing placement during COVID-19

In light of the COVID-19 restrictions, the six social work students at the Mental Health Legal Centre, Law and Advocacy Centre for Women and YouthLaw have since experienced the most unconventional placement within community legal centres to date.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Media

COVID-19, prisons and the courts

Should prisoners be released because of the risks around coronavirus? And the case of the homeless man, just released from prison who was fined $250 for salvaging pies and iced coffees from a dumpster.

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News + Views

To achieve racial justice, we must self-determine meaningfully

Reducing barriers to employment for Aboriginal people: Rethinking the Role of Criminal Record Checks Project

Himilo Community Connect pilot

The CIJ’s Student Program and adapting to COVID19

Improved accountability: The role of perpetrator intervention systems

Curfew must involve a plan for those who have no choice but to be out

Australian prisons

Human rights under lockdown

Lockdown returns: how far can coronavirus measures go before they infringe on human rights?

Financial counselling for women in the criminal justice system – a crucial ingredient in a multidisciplinary, positive intervention

Restorative Justice and Aboriginal-led Decision Making

Responding restoratively to Covid -19?

Removing barriers to Aboriginal employment

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

Answering your questions about disability in the justice system

Life as a social work student experiencing placement during COVID-19

Open Circle and Restorative Justice During Covid-19

Voices of adolescents should not be another casualty of this pandemic

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

Financial Counselling help during COVID-19

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

New justice responses must prioritise Indigenous voices

Court Innovation during COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19, prisons and the courts

Centre for Innovative Justice

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