Source: (1996) In: J. Hudson, et al. (eds.), Family Group Conferences: Perspectives on Policy and Practice. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press, pp. 111-139.
In 1994, South Australia enacted legislation establishing family group conferencing and its philosophy of restorative justice as the central component of the system. This paper reports that by the end of 1995, almost 1,600 family group conferences had been held in South Australia. The conference process is described which involves not only the offender and the victim but also their respective families and social networks who have also been harmed by the offense. The preliminary results of the process are positive; a small pilot study revealed that 93 percent of the victims reported that participation in the conference was helpful.
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