Description

This paper outlines the variety and scope of Indigenous sentencing practices which are in place in Australia, with a focus on the Queensland Murri Court. Many of the initiatives have been developed in regional or remote areas. One line of thought as to why this is so is that the smaller communities with a sole judicial officer are more likely to have the flexibility to adopt practices tailored to the needs of the local community. It should be noted that these sentencing practices are not applied to major offences such as murder, rape, sexual assault or serious assaults and are not practices which diminish the seriousness of the offending behaviour or their impact on the community.