The Youth Koori Court (YKC) is a court tailored to the needs of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

children and young people who engage with the criminal justice system in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It operates out of the Children's Court of New South Wales. The first such court was established in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta in 2015, with another created in Surry Hills to serve the city of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in early 2019, and the first regional YKC established in

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

in 2022. The YKC involves older members of the Aboriginal community to help the youths to engage with their culture, among other measures.

Background

The word '' Koori'' refers to Aboriginal people from south-east Australia, in the regions now encompassing the State of Victoria as well as southern

. The idea of the Youth Koori Court is to engage older members of the Aboriginal community, including elders, with Aboriginal

young offender A young offender is a young person who has been convicted or cautioned for a criminal offense. Criminal justice systems often deal with young offenders differently from adult offenders, but different countries apply the term "young offender" ...

s who engage with the justice system, as a steadying influence.

History

The first Youth Koori Court was initially established as a

pilot program A pilot study, pilot project, pilot test, or pilot experiment is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research pro ...

in Parramatta in 2015, in response to the over-representation of

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

young people in the criminal justice system in

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. After its initial successful pilot phase, it was granted funding to make it permanent. The court was noted as achieving some success, with its funding extended in 2018 for another three years. Extra funding of was provided to fund caseworkers at Marist Youth Care in June 2017, to assist the young offenders appearing before the court. In 2018 the court was expanded, opening up another court in Surry Hills on 6 February 2019 for Indigenous youth in the centre of the city. In July 2022, the first regional Youth Koori Court was established in

Operation

The Youth Koori Court operates as part of the Children's Court of New South Wales. It has the same powers as the Children's Court, but uses a modified process to better involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, their families and the broader community in the process. With the assistance of elders and other respected people from the communities, the Youth Koori Court seeks first to identify risk factors, such as

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

, disengagement from education, drug and alcohol or other health issues that may be affecting the young person's involvement with the criminal justice system. Several actions follow: * An action and support plan is developed with the young person to help them to address these risk factors and improve connections with their culture and their community. * The implementation of the action and support plan is monitored by the YKC over a period of months and the young person is required to come back to court several times. * At the end of the process the judicial officer will sentence the young person taking into consideration the steps the young person has taken to address their issues. It is an alternative to the main judicial system, providing an optional diversionary pathway for Aboriginal children and young people. It is intended to help to address some of the underlying social factors that contribute to young offending by young Aboriginal people, such as inadequate housing, lack of engagement in the education system,

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

and unemployment. According to a 2018 media release:

Impact

Statistics collected and interpreted by the

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), also known as NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, is an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice responsible for research into crime and criminal justice and evaluation o ...

showed that young people who had gone through a Youth Koori Court are around 40% less likely to be imprisoned than those who go through the ordinary court system, and there is no adverse effect on

recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Youth Koori Court
on the government website

Organisations serving Indigenous Australians Australian Indigenous law