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.