The Victorian Government is working to ensure that Aboriginal people have access to an equitable justice system that is shaped by self-determination, and protects and upholds their human, civil, legal, and cultural rights.
The key Aboriginal Governance Forum for realising outcomes in this Domain is the Aboriginal Justice Forum.
Aboriginal Justice Forum
Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja - Aboriginal Justice Agreement Phase 4
The Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA) is Victoria’s primary strategy committed to driving systemic change to address the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the justice system. The agreement embeds self-determination to deliver better justice outcomes for Aboriginal Communities. The AJA is an enduring 25-year formal partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Community, currently in its fourth phase, Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja. This agreement is the longest running Aboriginal justice agreement in Australia.
Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja (AJA4) takes an outcomes approach to organise and communicate its priorities through the Aboriginal Justice Outcomes Framework (the Framework). The Framework reflects Aboriginal justice partners’ aspirations for change across a range of domains. These include strong and safe Aboriginal families and communities; fewer Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system; a more effective justice system with greater Aboriginal control; and greater self-determination in the justice system. The Department of Justice and Community Safety focuses on improving Aboriginal outcomes aligned under this framework, with key principles set out in AJA4 for how departments will work with the Aboriginal Justice Caucus and other Aboriginal partners to realise Aboriginal aspirations for change.
The Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA) Community Grants Programs provided funding of nearly $40 million in 2024 to enable the delivery of Aboriginal-led solutions to improve Aboriginal justice outcomes, with over 98 per cent of this funding going to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. This transfer of power to Aboriginal organisations enables greater benefits for the Aboriginal Community.
Maintaining investment in effective Aboriginal community-based solutions to justice over-representation aligns with and upholds, government’s commitment to the AJA and self-determination for Victoria’s First Peoples – including by transferring resources to Aboriginal organisations.
The AJA4 sets out two specific goals for reducing the numbers of both Aboriginal adults and young people subject to justice supervision. These targets were more ambitious in both scale and timeframe than the National Closing the Gap targets, aiming to achieve reductions by 2023, rather than 2031.
Funding through the Aboriginal Justice Agreement to improve justice outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians include:
- In 2023-24 the Aboriginal Justice Agreement Community Grants Program administered $38.74 million to community organisations, with most grants allocated to Aboriginal organisations.
- The 2024-25 Budget provided $31.86 million over 4 years to support Aboriginal Organisations to continue successful self-determined programs that prevent Aboriginal interaction with the justice system, support transition from prison, and support Aboriginal people experiencing family violence.
- The 2024-25 investment will support continuation of the recent positive progress in reducing the rates of Aboriginal incarceration and violence by:
- Continuing programs that offer specialist, gender-based support within Aboriginal Communities, to address the unique needs of perpetrators and victims of family violence, and their families.
- Providing early intervention and culturally specific support for both Aboriginal men and women, and Aboriginal youth, in contact with the criminal justice system to reduce reoffending through healing and behaviour change.
- Continuing support services for early intervention and prevention with cultural understanding of gendered roles within the community to reduce Aboriginal interaction with the justice system.
The Aboriginal Justice Agreement Phase 4 Evaluation and Monitoring
The evaluation of AJA4 sought to understand the performance of the AJA partnership over the past five years, progress against milestones to reduce over-representation of Aboriginal people in the Victorian justice system, and where focus and effort will be required under the next iteration of the Agreement (AJA5). This evaluation facilitates accountability of government and ensures the AJA is responsive to the needs of Aboriginal Victorians.
The framework for the evaluation was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal Justice Caucus in 2020 to ensure the evaluation was undertaken in a self-determined manner and to ensure accountability and oversight by Aboriginal stakeholders.
To measure and examine the impact of governance mechanisms under the AJA, on enabling greater Aboriginal involvement in justice decision-making, policy and legislative development, the Aboriginal Justice Partnership Survey was established in early 2021 and ran annually through to the end of 2024. The survey sought responses from Aboriginal Community leaders including Caucus members, to understand how the partnership is performing at both the statewide and regional level and how the structures are enabling Aboriginal self-determination in the justice system.
Youth Justice
Wirkara Kulpa- Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy
Wirkara Kulpa, Victoria’s first Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy, has continued efforts to address the over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in Victoria’s youth justice system. Wirkara Kulpa is a key initiative of Burra Lotjpa Dunguludja – Aboriginal Justice Agreement 4 and the key driver of response to the Commission for Children and Young People’s 2022 report ‘Our youth, our way: Inquiry into the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children and young people in the Victorian youth justice system’.
To support implementation of Wirkara Kulpa, the 2024-25 Budget provides continued funding for Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service’s Balit Ngulu service, as part of the $35.22m allocated over four years to the department for ‘continuing to support a safe and stable Youth Justice system’ initiative. This funding complements the 2023-24 Budget provision of $50.92m over two years to continue critical initiatives in youth justice, including culturally responsive services to support Aboriginal young people in custody. Further, in 2022-23 and 2021-22, respectively, $11.14m was awarded over two years to support diversion initiatives including Aboriginal Youth Justice Hubs, whilst $5.95m was awarded over three years to support early intervention family services to keep Aboriginal children aged 14 years and under out of the criminal justice system.
In June 2023, the Aboriginal Justice Caucus (AJC) endorsed a four-phase implementation plan (the Plan) for Wirkara Kulpa, where all 75 actions within the Strategy are allocated in order of importance according to Aboriginal stakeholders. As per the Plan, the implementation of all 75 actions will commence within the first six years of the Strategy’s launch in 2022. The allocation of actions is reviewed once a year (at a minimum) to ensure that the Plan supports, and is consistent with, priorities identified by AJC. The first annual review of the Plan occurred on July 5, 2024, in collaboration with the Aboriginal Youth Collaborative Working Group (CWG).
All Tranche 1 actions and priority projects have commenced, with eight actions completed or completed and ongoing, supported by funding from the State Budget. Implementation of Tranche 2 actions commenced in late 2024.
Initiatives that have been completed and progressed to business as usual include:
- Boosting educational opportunities for Aboriginal children and young people in youth justice, in partnership with the Department of Education and Training
- Improving after hours services and access to bail to keep Aboriginal children and young people out of remand
- Developing a Wirkara Kulpa Performance Framework that sets Aboriginal-identified justice related targets and accountability measures to improve young people’s outcomes
- Expanding the Community-Based Aboriginal Justice Worker program to keep Aboriginal children and young people out of the youth justice system by working to their strengths
- Improving gender responsive services through the Aboriginal Youth Justice Worker expansion
- Making sure all young people in custody have access to an Aboriginal Liaison Officer to respond to their cultural needs and proactively support family visits and ongoing connection
Work has progressed on several Tranche 1 and 2 initiatives, including but not limited to:
- Integrating cultural support planning with case management and delivering a cultural plan that can be shared by all agencies working with Aboriginal children and young people
- Establishing Aboriginal Youth Justice Hubs to provide place-based Aboriginal led services to children and young people in the community
- Supporting Koorie Youth Council to implement a mechanism which amplifies the voices of Aboriginal children and young people in the design and delivery of youth justice services
- Commencing Aboriginal led case management review panels, to ensure that care and supports address the strengths, risks and needs of Aboriginal children and young people, and issues contributing to their over-representation
- Delivering early intervention family service and specialist family practitioners to support Aboriginal children aged 10 to 14 to stay in school and at home and actively engage with their communities
- Developing an Aboriginal social and emotional wellbeing strategy for Aboriginal children and young people involved in youth justice, which emphasises positive wellbeing, including as a prevention approach for suicide and self-harm
Wirkara Kulpa Performance Framework
The Wirkara Kulpa Performance Framework (the framework) seeks to measure the outcomes and impact of Wirkara Kulpa, Victoria's first Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy, as a key action under Tranche 1. The framework will also increase transparency and set justice-related targets and accountability measures to improve Aboriginal children and young people’s outcomes. The framework will provide comprehensive data about the experiences of Aboriginal children and young people, with some data points dating back to the year 2000, when the Aboriginal Justice Agreement was first developed.
To respect Aboriginal self-determination of key decision making and advice for framework development, a Project Control Group (PCG) was devised and made up of self-nominated Aboriginal Justice Caucus and Aboriginal Youth Collaborative Working Group members. The PCG participated in workshops and one-on-one engagements focussed on advising on the scope, measures and indicators, methods and process for endorsement of the framework. The Aboriginal Youth Collaborative Working Group will guide implementation to ensure the Wirkara Kulpa Performance Framework best meets Aboriginal Community priorities. The framework received endorsement from the Aboriginal Youth Collaborative Working Group and Aboriginal Justice Caucus in late 2024.
The framework strengthens accountability towards achieving outcomes within Wirkara Kulpa and furthered transparency with Aboriginal stakeholders. The framework is now being implemented and will set justice-related targets and accountability measures to improve Aboriginal children and young people’s outcomes, under guidance from the Aboriginal Youth Collaborative Working Group.
Corrections
Victorian Government investment has supported Aboriginal people in prison to access a suite of culturally specific programs and services across prisons, as well as offending-related rehabilitation and transitional programs, that aim to respond to cultural needs.
In the 2024-25 Budget, $11.979 million was provided to support the continuation of existing programs focused on culturally safe supports for Aboriginal people in prison, including:
- $5.263m over five years to continue Aboriginal Wellbeing Officers (AWO) roles and support for the AWO staffing model.
- $3.127m over four years to continue the Statewide Indigenous Arts in Prison and Community Program delivered by The Torch.
- $3.161m over four years to continue the Wadamba Prison to Work Program delivered by Wanyaari.
- $0.428m over four years to continue the Baggarrook Aboriginal Women’s Transitional Housing Program delivered in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and Aboriginal Housing Victoria.
This builds on the $3.28 million, $13.7 million and $15.8 million committed in the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 Budgets respectively to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people in prisons and Community Correctional Services, and promote greater Aboriginal self-determination across the justice system.
Aboriginal-Led Model of Health Care in Victorian Prisons
Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and Justice Health have partnered to design an Aboriginal-led model of care and develop measures to support the capacity building of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) to deliver in-reach prison health services. Expanding the health services of ACCHOs into correctional settings will enable Aboriginal people in custody to access culturally appropriate primary health care with a focus on providing social and emotional wellbeing support that strengthens the continuity of health care as Aboriginal people transition into the community.
The development of the model is governed by a Co-Sponsor Executive Group and Service Design Group, both consisting of members from VACCHO, the ACCHO sector, Aboriginal Justice Caucus and DJCS. These groups are working together to ensure that service design, resources and capability building strategies are guided by Aboriginal decision-making, leadership and strategic direction.
In October 2024, staff from VACCHO and DJCS worked together to develop a business case for funding to test the model's proof of concept at a Victorian adult prison. Members from Aboriginal Justice Caucus and Department of Health also informed the business case which was submitted in November 2024 and continues to progress through the State budget process.
This is in step with a key approach under the Government’s Self-Determination Reform Framework to actively support the development of Aboriginal community-defined outcomes and ensure investment is directed to responses that work.
Justice and Safety
Systemic and structural barriers that Aboriginal Victorians experience, such as racism and social and economic disadvantage, can lead to over-representation in the justice system.
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