Hansard of the Legislative Council

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Mr FINCH (Rosevears) to ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Dr GOODWIN
 [2.53 p.m.]
We heard in the Education Act briefing today about restorative practices.  I am curious about how extensive the use of restorative practices is in the Justice department and in your work that you see as Attorney-General.  I am happy to take the answer on notice, but I will be pursuing how restorative practices are going to be implemented in the new education bill and into the system.
 ANSWER
 Mr President, to answer briefly, restorative practice, or a restorative justice approach, is heavily used in the context of juvenile offending, particularly with police diversionary procedures.  They have a structured approach, a tiered approach to diverting youth away from the justice system.  They have informal cautions, formal cautions and then community conferencing.
 In the adult corrections system we have the capacity for victim‑offender mediation, but it does not occur very frequently.  I cannot remember the last time it occurred.  There is a capacity to have victim-offender mediation.  Other jurisdictions are exploring this, and of course we will watch with interest.  In the context of some of the serious driving, causing death or serious injury cases, South Australia and recently Victoria have started to explore using restorative justice approaches in that context. 
 I am interested to see how it works elsewhere.  It is not used frequently within the Department of Justice.  I will make sure that I have the most accurate information on that, and take that one on notice.