The Columbus Pilot project conducted in the Family Court of Western Australia during 2001-2003, was established to deal with cases that are characterised by violence. Paul Murphy and Lis Pike of the School of Psychology, Edith Cowan University, discuss how the Columbus process of jointly chaired interdisciplinary conferences in the court has influenced the evolution...

Circle sentencing was first developed in Canada in 1992 for the sentencing of Indigenous offenders in a community setting, with aims including empowering and healing communities, providing more meaningful sentencing options, supporting offender rehabilitation, and supporting victims. In response to the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Australian courts, the process has now been trialled in...

Although it was once believed that courts simply declare authoritatively what the law is - leaving any change in the law to our elected representatives - that myth was exploded long ago. The courts make law, and the High Court makes more than most. How, then, does this sit with the law-making responsibility of the...

The document collates statistics on ADR that are routinely collected and contained in publicly available web-based or printed documents, especially published annual reports. Organisations may collect statistics that are not published and some may have conducted one off research studies or surveys. Such statistics are not included in this document.

The Queensland Drug Court is a pilot program established under legislation as a sentencing option within the Queensland Magistrates' Court. The AIC was commissioned to evaluate the pilot in terms of the level of drug dependency in the community, the level of criminal activity associated with drug dependency, and health risks to the community associated...