Circle of success: Kempsey program awarded for keeping Indigenous offenders out of jail

Run by the Aboriginal Services Unit in the Department of Communities and Justice, the program has been recognised in the New South Wales Premier's Awards for Tackling Longstanding Social Challenges.

The award was won in 2020 but due to COVID-19 restrictions, it is only now in the hands of those responsible for its success.

The Circle Sentencing Court Program leaves the punishment of convicted offenders up to a group comprising Indigenous elders, the magistrate, police, legal officials, parents or guardians, and victims.

It was originally developed and implemented by the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council and has been operating in Kempsey since 2005.

During Friday's (May 27) presentation at Kempsey Court House, Aboriginal Services Unit senior Aboriginal client and community support officer Victor Darcy, thanked the Kempsey community.

"On behalf of the department, I want to say thank you to everyone," he said . "We would not have received this award without the community and your continued support."

Aboriginal Services Unit Northern Region coordinator Tamara Saunders said it's great to finally celebrate.

"The award is a testament to our volunteers. We wouldn't have the successes that we have if it wasn't for the community, [which is] dedicated to social justices and helping people get on the right path.

"The program is an opportunity for people to actually stop and recognise what they've done, and have people talk to them about other options available to them that maybe they haven't realised are available to them before."

Retired magistrate Wayne Evans, who was the magistrate when the program first started in 2005, was a special guest at the event.

"I used to say it was over 200 years that the Indigenous people were without representation. This program gave them representation," he said.

"You could easily lock someone up, but they weren't rehabilitated in jail, they were just able to learn how to commit the offence better.

"In Circle Sentencing you have the defendant, you have the police, you have the community representatives who might be family and are there because the defendant respects them... and they all sit down together with the magistrate, as equals.

"Defendants often find it far more personal and confronting than in court where they could tell me anything in there and I wouldn't know the truth. If they say something in Circle and it's not the truth, the community representatives will know.

Mr Evans said he's seen the program assist defendants' rehabilitation and reduce recidivism in the community.

"The program is so helpful in resolving the aspect of recidivism because of rehabilitation," he said.

"The statistics show that reoffending is very, very low after Circle. The same people, if they didn't go to Circle, would be on the other side of the statistic and would offend again because that's the norm.

"I've had three, if not four, attorneys-general come up to me while I was here, and each and every one of them was impressed by what they were seeing in the community as a result of the program."

Local Elder Aunty Mavis Davis said Circle Sentencing has been a resounding success in Kempsey, despite her being one of its biggest critics at the start.

"I didn't want it here at first. I thought it would be abused and taken advantage of and I didn't want that to happen," she said. "But I sat on the first circle and I'm now the number one supporter. We have never had any of what I thought would happen.

"When I go out for exercise, people call out to me to talk about how everything has changed for them and how they're working together with their family, and I just see it as a beautiful way [for] justice to be served.

"All of us here are totally committed to Circle Sentencing, and what makes it better is the magistrates, the lawyers and the prosecutors are all on equal ground, and we are all very strong in what we believe in and what should be done.

"This has worked, and I'm going to support whatever's working in our community."

Kempsey and Macksville were the first locations to host presentation ceremonies, with the department on its way around the state to award other community projects.

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