Koori Court

Welcome to Country: I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

So begins the Koori Court Stakeholders Training I attended last Friday, August 16. (The local city council meeting starts with a similar “Original Custodian Statement,” as do most public meetings or gatherings.)

Leaves from gum trees and candles were placed on the table before the Elders in attendance.

Per the Factsheet “Koori Courts in Victoria” (Warrnambool is located in the State of Victoria)….

·      Reasons for the establishment of the adult Koori Court: The need for a Koori Court arose because of massive Indigenous over-representation in the adult Criminal Justice System—more so than any other racial group. Despite Victoria having the lowest imprisonment rate of Indigenous offenders in Australia, it was estimated in 2001 at the commencement of the adult Koori Court pilot project that Koories were 12 times more likely to be imprisoned than other Victorians.

·      What are the aims of the Koori Court?  The Koori Court is essentially an alternate way of administering sentences so that Court processes are culturally accessible, acceptable and comprehensible to the Indigenous community.

What a wonderful concept, court processes that are not only comprehensible, but also culturally accessible and acceptable. 

The morning of the training was “A Journey Through History,” a two-hour overview of “the events, attitudes and particularly government policies of the past 200+ years that have shaped the relations between White and Black Australians.”

The presentation was led by two Koori Elders, and was illustrated with pairs of art panels with Koori history on one and the corresponding White history on the other. Very interesting and powerful how the art panels ultimately came together as one panorama.

Koori Court represents a similar coming together of cultures: Violation of White law being reviewed and evaluated, and punishment meted out, by the rule of Elders within a collective consensus driven process. White “crime.”  Koori “punishment.”

The afternoon was a round table discussion focusing mainly on Children’s Koori Court. There were Elders, Respected Persons, court staff, probation officers, a legal aide lawyer, a Magistrate, and staff from Brophy Family and Youth Services, through whom I am doing volunteer work. We sat at a table that went around the edge of the room, with the center of the room open. The room we were in was the one used for Children’s Koori Court. For court sessions, there are just chairs set up in a circle. In attendance would be those listed above, with prosecution and victim joining the circle.

Children’s Koori Court is voluntary, i.e. the accused Koori youth can choose to go to regular court or Koori Court. What is most interesting is that to go to Koori Court, the accused youth offender must first plead guilty. A foundational premise to the court, and Koori culture, is to acknowledge responsibility for your acts. Through communal discussion and deliberation, the role of the court thus becomes deliberating why the act was done, atoning for it, and bringing to bear White and Black community resources to address causation and prevention of re-offending.

The court is not focused on punishment. Interestingly though, many Koori youth offenders choose not to go, as regular court punishment is felt easier to take, or preferable, to facing shame before or from Elders and Respected Persons.

I was made very welcome. I look forward to joining the circle when court is next in session. Currently I am teaming up with a Brophy caseworker on two case files just assigned to her of Koori youth who have elected to go to Koori Court.

Gifts were given and received at the end of the day. We all received The Little Red Yellow Black Book. Not a sequel to Mao’s tome, but “An Introduction to Indigenous Australia.”

The Magistrate gave me his copy of the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement: A partnership between the Victorian Government and Koori Community.

The Elder who served as the local Koori Court liaison has asked me to come back to the courthouse and meet with her again.

The Elders presenting gave everyone painted rocks. The gum leaf on the bottom signifies new beginnings.

I really like the picture Ann took of the courthouse with the Australian and Aboriginal flags. The red at the bottom represents the earth and the Koori relationship to it. The black above represents all Aboriginal people past, present and future. The yellow is the sun, the source of life.

Today I went to a conference on Rural Youth and the Law—Successes and Challenges. Stay tuned for more.