About this Profile
Profile source: An interview on behalf of the NED Foundation.
- Manager
About the Organisation
Adult Restorative Justice Conferencing (ARJC) is a service run by the Dispute Resolution Branch. ARJC assists victims of crime to come together with offenders in a conference in order for offenders to take responsibility for their actions and take steps towards repairing that harm. We provide an opportunity for the victim to tell their story and to hold the offender responsible for their actions. All conferences are conducted by a convenor, who is an accredited mediator appointed under the Dispute Resolutions Centres Act 1990.
We offer our services in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Gold Coast regions. The court, police, prosecutor, corrective services and victims of crime are all able to refer a matter to ARJC.
The Dispute Resolution Centre was established in 1990 and in 1992, Marg O'Donnell, the then Executive Manager, became aware of the early work of Terry O'Connell in the Restorative Justice field. Marg had a vision that RJ needed to become part of the justice system and, as a consequence, the Crime and Reparation Project began.
All members of ARJC's small but dedicated team are nationally accredited mediators with up to 30 years of commitment to the Restorative Justice process.
In 2020–21 Adult Restorative Justice Conferencing reported:
- 94% of complainants, defendants and their supporters reported being satisfied with their experience in the restorative justice conference, assessed across several measures. This reflects the empowering nature of the process and the parties’ role in deciding how the process unfolds and the outcomes.
- 98% of defendants completed the actions set out in their Restorative Outcome Plan. This reflects the voluntary nature of the process and the defendant’s direct role in helping design the outcomes.
- More than $98,000 in restitution, compensation and donations to charity were made by defendants.
- Parties made comments such as:
- ‘I felt heard’
- ‘I can safely express how I feel, talk about what happened, apologise in person, understand each other’s perspectives’
- ‘I can move forward and rebuild.’
- Government Department
- District Court
- Local Court
- Private prison system
- Public prison system
- Referrals from the justice system
- Supreme Court
- Victims of crimes
- Local police
- Magistrates Court
- Police Prosecutors
- Corrections and prisons
- Criminal Justice
- Gendered violence
- Research
- Responding to sexual assault/harm
- Restorative Conferencing
- Sexual assault