This program was established by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), in collaboration with the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) and the Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse (IJC) and the Justice Policy Partnership as part of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The research has a focus on Priority Reform Four (4) – shared access to data and information at the regional level and Outcomes 10 and 11 to reduce youth detention and adult incarceration.
The program funds research into the factors that contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-representation in the criminal justice system and aim to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in detention.
In October 2021 the IJPR sought applications from researchers to identify and analyse:
The recipients of the IJC funding were announced on 4 April 2022 by the Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews, and Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt.
The successful projects are as listed:
| Organisation | Project title | Funding |
| Curtin University of Technology | Treating co-occurring substance use disorder and mental illness among Indigenous people released from prison will increase life expectancy, reduce incarceration, and contribute to Closing the Gap | $200,000 |
| James Cook University | A collaborative throughcare model for reducing the over-representation of Australian Indigenous youth living in remote and rural Northern Australia | $200,000 |
| Department for Correctional Services SA | Validation of the Violence Risk Scale for Australian prison populations | $156,000 |
| University of New South Wales | Reducing hyper-incarceration of First Nations Peoples by removing barriers to mental health diversion | $115,470 |
| Monash University | Optimising the availability and provision of Indigenous language interpreting in circuit courts | $82,756 |
| University of Western Australia | Reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal youth in the justice system in the west Kimberley region of Western Australia through place-based Aboriginal led diversion, and ‘mobile’ therapeutic courts: envisioning a paradigm shift in Aboriginal youth justice | $82,130 |
| University of New South Wales | Sentencing to create just outcomes: impact of trauma and strength of culture: Evaluating the impact of the Bugmy Bar Book Resources – the first 3 years | $77,505 |
| National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre | The contribution of drug and alcohol abuse to Indigenous over-representation in prison: A closer look at the evidence | $53,629 |
| University of Western Australia | Indigenous peoples’ experiences with the criminal justice system: Stories that matter | $52,507 |