The Wire

On Monday the 18th of July, New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman, announced $19.8 million increased funding for indigenous Justice initiatives, including the expansion of Youth Koori Court to Dubbo, increased presence of Local Court ‘circle sentencing,’ and community led pilot programs working towards diverting indigenous people away from the criminal justice system.

The expansion of circle sentencing and the Youth Koori Court, which commenced in Parramatta in 2015, can have significant impacts on the rates of Indigenous people interacting with the criminal justice systems, according to reports from the NSW Bureau of Crime and Statistics.