ACT Restorative Justice Unit

Restorative justice (RJ) offers opportunities for young people to have a voice and say in their personal justice needs and interests in the aftermath of crime. It is available across the entire criminal justice system from the point Police become involved, throughout the Court process and even after sentence.

For people harmed by offences, RJ offers opportunities for you to give voice to the actual impacts on you and those close to you as well as a say in what you think needs to happen to repair the harm caused. It allows you to ask questions about what happened like why me? and to receive a direct response from the person responsible who is often the only one who can answer those questions.

For people responsible for offences, RJ offers an opportunity to take responsibility, gain insight and respond to the harms caused. You get the chance to try to repair those harms and look at ways to ensure it doesn’t happen again. It also provides carefully managed and guided opportunities for those close to you to explore the impacts on your own family, for them to hear you take responsibility and see that your trying to make things better.