The Victorian Association for Restorative Justice

The Victorian Association for Restorative Justice (VARJ) represents restorative practitioners, thinkers and policy makers in Victoria. The aim of the Association is to promote and support best practice in all forms of restorative practice. VARJ formed as an Incorporated Association in April 2005 in acknowledgment of the increasing use of restorative practices in criminal justice, child protection and school disciplinary systems.

VARJ is primarily a professional association for individuals and organisations utilising restorative justice and restorative practices. While it is the values and philosophies of restorative justice that underpin restorative practices, the common feature of restorative approaches is to bring together the group of individuals affected by a particular issue in an attempt to resolve both the practical and the emotional impacts of the issue.

The restorative philosophy is, in essence, that the negative effects that people and incidences have on other people are not primarily issues of criminality or personal deficiency, but issues of interpersonal human relationships.