About the Practitioner
As the Principal Practice Officer, Malcolm is responsible for the oversight of the Restorative Youth Justice program in Queensland.
The program brings young offenders and victims together in a safe environment in order to reach an agreed outcome.
While all those attending are able make their contribution, it is ultimately only the offender and the victim who have the final say on the outcome.
The Department has no control over the outcome other than to ensure it is legal.
Malcolm was practicing the principles of Restorative Justice long before he ever knew such a thing existed.
Some 20 years ago, Malcolm was a salesman selling equipment to surf lifesaving clubs on the Gold Coast, and one club in particular was his number one customer.
On enquiring as to why the club was buying so much equipment, he was told that local youths were continually breaking into the club's premises, vandalising the equipment and thus it was needing to be replaced.
The young people were arrested but had not yet faced court. Malcolm approached both the equipment manufacturer and the surf club to see if they would be willing to have the young people work in the factory to gain an understanding of what was involved in the manufacture of the equipment they were destroying.
The surf club agreed to drop the charges and the young men began working in the factory.
During the time they were there, the young men's attitude changed as they formed relationships with the workers, and one of them even became a volunteer at the surf club. Needless to say the break-ins stopped and Malcolm lost a lot of repeat sales.
Malcolm is somewhat unique in that he did not enter the Department from a social work type background, but rather having worked in mediation in community based programs where he used Restorative Practice principles.
The Youth Justice program is specifically about young people and the biggest client cohort are the victims of crime.
Organisation
- Principal Practice Officer
- Children's Court
- Community based
- District Court
- DPP
- Juvenile Justice
- Local Court
- Local police
- Magistrates Court
- Police Prosecutors
- Public prison system
- Referrals from the justice system
- Supreme Court
- University
- Victims of crimes
- Corrections and prisons
- Criminal Justice
- Facilitation
- Family group conferencing
- Policy development
- Program development
- Responding to child sexual abuse
- Responding to sexual assault/harm
- Restorative Circles
- Restorative Conferencing
- Restorative Practice meetings
- Sexual assault
- Training
- Workplace Conferencing
- Workplace Training
- Youth justice