Circle sentencing commenced in New South Wales in February 2002 in Nowra Local Court. Since then the program has been expanded to Armidale, Bourke, Brewarrina, Dubbo, Kempsey, Lismore, Mount Druitt […]

The Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment (MERIT) program is a New South Wales court-based scheme targeting adult defendants appearing before a participating Local Court who have a demonstrable illicit drug […]

This bulletin reports the main findings of the ‘Participation of Aboriginal people in the MERIT program’ report, released in 2006. The Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment (MERIT) program was developed […]

This background paper seeks to examine those principles and obligations as they apply to Australia’s mandatory sentencing laws. It provides a review of the range of mandatory sentencing regimes across […]

This report presents the results of a review of the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Adult Conference Pilot conducted during 2007/2008. The pilot aimed to involve members of the community and victims […]

Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide information to courts on an individual’s background, circumstances, risks, needs and plans. Research has found that PSRs focus heavily on risk of recidivism, while identification of […]

This article seeks to examine the relationship between the number of Indigenous defendants appearing in the NSW Local Court and the rate of Indigenous recidivism. A simple model of the […]

In September 2005 an internal review of the Murri Court was commissioned to assess the court’s effectiveness and whether its operations can be improved with a view to making it […]

In July 2007, the Chief Justice announced the formation of a taskforce to deal with the rapid number of charges of sexual assault in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. […]

This report presents a descriptive profile of the Koori Court, including contextual information on the background and development of the court and its philosophy, aims and jurisdiction. While Koori Court […]