The Justice James Muirhead Churchill Fellowship to investigate strategies for increasing the cultural integrity of court processes for Aboriginal young people and their families in the Northern Territory Youth Justice System – USA, Canada, New Zealand.

Source: (2012) The Winston Churchill Trust of Australia.

My project looks at innovative approaches in Canada, the United States and New Zealand to
improve the cultural relevance of the justice system for Aboriginal people. It looks at initiatives that
try to make court less formal, more understandable, more culturally meaningful and ultimately
better able to identify and address the reasons underpinning an Aboriginal person’s offending. A
central element of this is to consider initiatives that look to find bridges between Western and First
Nations cultural perspectives and how a contemporary justice process can be enhanced as a
result.
Twenty recommendations have been made which aim to make practical and tangible changes to
reduce the negative impacts of the justice system on Indigenous people. (excerpt)