Advocating for systemic changes that build safer and stronger communities

Last week I had the opportunity to be briefed by the executive team at Just Reinvest NSW, a coalition of more than 25 organisations and individuals that supports Aboriginal communities to explore and establish justice reinvestment initiatives. It advocates for systemic changes that build safer and stronger communities.

Created in 2011, Just Reinvest works at a local level with Aboriginal communities, supported by a network of champions, youth ambassadors and supporters across the legal, corporate, government and for-purpose sectors. Just Reinvest also advocates for legislative and policy changes that will drive down interactions with the criminal justice system and incarceration rates and support community leadership and self-determination.

The Maranguka Justice Reinvestment program in Bourke is a prime example of the results that can be achieved through an Indigenous community-led approach, underpinned by the principles of self-determination.

A KPMG impact assessment of the Maranguka Justice Reinvestment program in Bourke found a 23 per cent reduction in police recorded incidence of domestic violence and comparable drops in rates of re-offending, a 31 per cent increase in year 12 student retention rates and a 42 per cent reduction in days spent in custody.

Significantly, our meeting with Just Reinvest NSW came less than 24 hours after we learnt of yet another Aboriginal death in custody – the sixth in Australian prisons and the fourth in NSW since 2 March. The Law Society echoes the words of Karly Warner, Aboriginal Legal Service CEO, that Indigenous deaths in custody are not inevitable, and, as noted in a number of Law Society policy submissions, the answers are already available. Coinciding with the 30-year anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, this tragic spate of deaths makes a compelling case for immediate reform.

In the absence of a formal treaty framework, as is called for in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Law Society’s view is that respecting the principle of self-determination and empowering communities and individuals is critical. The Law Society supports the Uluru Statement as an articulate and definitive statement of the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In the meantime, we will continue, amongst other things, to advocate for true engagement with, and empowerment of, Indigenous peoples and communities to ensure systemic changes, including addressing the unacceptable gap between Indigenous and other Australian's life expectancy.

Juliana Warner, President, the Law Society of NSW

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