Ensuring that Aboriginal perspectives inform responses to Aboriginal victims
On Thursday 12 December, the CIJ, in partnership with the Aboriginal Justice Caucus and Djirra released the "Ensuring that Aboriginal Perspectives Inform Responses to Aboriginal Victims of Crime" report.
This project was commissioned by the Koori Justice Unit, in collaboration with Victim Services, Support and Reform, at the Department of Justice and Community Safety. It recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are dramatically overrepresented at all stages of the criminal justice system, including as victims of crime, while being under-represented in access to or receipt of victim-focused services. The project was overseen by a Project Steering Committee with representatives from Djirra, Dardi Munwurro, Elizabeth Morgan House as formal project partners, as well as from the Aboriginal Engagement Worker (formerly known as Koori Engagement Worker) network.
The research involved interviews and yarning circles with 23 Aboriginal participants who described experiences of disclosing or reporting crime; progressing through a justice response where this occurred, and seeking or accessing support. The CIJ also consulted broadly with Aboriginal community representatives from the Aboriginal Justice Caucus, the Aboriginal Justice Agreement’s Women, Families and Victims’ Collaborative Working Group, the network of Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees, and practitioners working in Aboriginal-identified service provision roles – either specifically in the context of justice or more broadly.
Our research found that Aboriginal victims of crime face unique barriers to disclosing and seeking support for their experiences of harm, including prior negative system contact, distrust of services and a reluctance to bring a justice response on family or community members. This report underscores the need for culturally safe, holistic, and wrap-around support that responds to the needs of Aboriginal victims of crime.
As identified by participants, most of the answers do not lie in reinventing the wheel. Across communities, Aboriginal people and organisations are already enacting many of the solutions and simply need greater recognition and resourcing. Further, the Aboriginal Justice Agreement and Aboriginal Justice Caucus have long called for many of the proposals in this report. The CIJ is profoundly grateful for the contributions of all participants and looks forward to these recommendations informing meaningful and systemic reform.
