The term "Restorative Practice" describes any a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular issue or conflict come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the issue or aftermath of the conflict and its implications for the future.

The most common examples of Restorative Practice, at this point in time, are:

Restorative Justice - brings together people affected by crime in order to repair harm done by one person or group to another. In Victoria legislation provides for young offenders (under 18) to participate in a Restorative Conference.

Schools - can utilise a restorative approach to school discipline and engagement between students, staff, and the wider school community. In Victoria, there are many schools that are adopting this approach as an alternative disciplinary process, as a response to bullying and as an overall philosophy to relationships.

Family Group Conferencing or Family Group Decision Making - brings together extended families and professionals to make difficult decisions about the well-being of children. In Victoria, the Department of Human Services utilises Family Group Decision Making to help families make decisions about the welfare of children at risk of harm, Aboriginal services are also increasingly offering a service to provide extended indigenous families with a Conferencing process to make decisions about children and some community organisations, notably Glastonbury Family Services in Geelong and CPS, are also offering families the Conferencing process as a means to make decisions.

Workplace Conferencing - a developing field that takes the restorative approach to conflict resolution and relationship building to the workplace.

Community Conferencing - that resolves conflict and aids decision making around difficult issues within our communities. This is an approach currently being contemplated by the newly formed Community Justice Centres.

Corrections - refers to adult prisons and youth training centres that adopt restorative approaches to discipline and conflict resolution in a similar manner to schools. In Victoria there are currently no such facilities.

Our New Developments page offers the most recent developments in each of these fields in Victoria, Australia and around the world.

 

Copyright 2007
Victorian Association for Restorative Justice, Inc.
ABN: 56 898 041 553