About the Practitioner
Alice commenced her involvement with Restorative Practice and Restorative Justice as a Phd student when researching Bhutanese refugees who had spent decades stranded in camps and wanted access to the international justice process.
At the same time, Alice's husband, Ray Nickson, was doing research on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the ICTY, and the ECCC in Cambodia.
Looking at these court-based responses, Alice and Ray realised the system was not serving those who had access to that system. While an international justice process is very unlikely for the Bhutanese refugees, it is also unlikely the courts would support their justice needs due to the adversarial nature of courts.
Alice subsequently worked with Tribal Nations in the USA who had autonomy over their justice system, which was funded from revenue generated by their casino ownership.
These Tribal Nations were able to develop their own programs and processes, and whilst still run like a court, the introduction of Restorative Practice into the process, saw the recidivism rates significantly reduced, particularly among young offenders, who now had options other than incarceration.
Alice's current work in restorative justice focuses on supporting creating 'restorative spaces' - spaces which support engagement, reconciliation, and conversations about complex issues in a way that is not stigmatizing.
Being aware of the gaps in our justice system, from the international courts, right down to juvenile courts, Alice believes there is a disconnect from what people want and need from our existing processes and is determined to assist in developing a system that is more appropriate for all.
Alice has more than a decade of working with refugees in camps in Australia and understanding their journeys. She has taught Restorative Justice to masters level in American universities and published academic articles on restorative spaces and restorative justice in health care.
Alice has great empathy and passion for pursuing justice for those who are unable to do it for themselves and this is the result of her own experiences, having a child born with complex medical needs and the death of that child due to medical malpractice.
The existing system in hospitals provides no process for those who have been harmed, or for the family of those who have been harmed, to have the ability to have their voices heard. The establishment of Restorative Practice processes would fill that void.
Alice is like many people, drawn to Restorative Justice because it has the potential to better support victims, heal communities, and effectively address the root causes of offending.
The greatest strength of Restorative Justice is its ability to be flexible-it is not a-one size-fits-all approach. This can make scaling up restorative practices and processes more challenging but even integrating discrete aspects of restorative justice into our current response to harms is as important first step.
Organisation
- Academic - lecturer
- University
- Advocacy
- Community Development/Education
- Corrections and prisons
- Culture change
- Criminal Justice
- Education - University
- Family violence advocacy
- Gendered violence
- Health and well being
- Human rights
- Policy development
- Refugees
- Research
- Rights of people with disabilities
- Rights of those experiencing mental ill health
- Training
- Youth justice
- Community art