Over a six-month period beginning July 2000, the author researched eight different Bush Courts in remote communities throughout the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and evaluated the level of legal […]

This information bulletin outlines the development of the Aboriginal Courts in South Australia. Some preliminary statistics are presented for the three adult Nunga courts currently operating in South Australia, namely […]

This report examines the link between sentencing in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the over-representation of Koori people in Victoria’s prisons. The focus of this examination is a comparison […]

In 2017, the Attorney-General of Australia launched an inquiry into the reasons for over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres St Islander people in prison in Australia. The Law Reform Commission developed […]

This background paper seeks to examine those principles and obligations as they apply to Australia’s mandatory sentencing laws. It provides a review of the range of mandatory sentencing regimes across […]

The Commonwealth Crimes Amendment (Bail and Sentencing) Act 2006 was introduced following significant media attention in 2005-06 which focused on allegations of widespread family violence and child abuse in remote […]

Circle Courts are designed to educate the community on issues surrounding offending and the promotion and enrichment of Aboriginal culture and family values. Circle sentencing operates on the belief that […]

This article briefly describes a number of alternative courts for sentencing Indigenous offenders which have been established throughout Australia. The initiatives described are circle sentencing in New South Wales; Koori […]

Important authorities such as Neal v The Queen (1982) and R v Fernando (1992) have established that the Aboriginality of a defendant is a relevant consideration when formulating a sentence. […]