SRWA’s Role in Supporting Justice Reinvestment
We are enablers, connectors, and advocates
We support WA communities to succeed at establishing justice reinvestment (JR) sites, and we work with policy and decisionmakers to shift systems necessary to enable successful and effective justice reinvestment- so we can be smarter about how we approach justice, build safer communities, and stronger families.
What do we do
Support communities to build their capacity to lead justice reinvestment locally
Grow the evidence base and show how justice reinvestment can make a difference for the whole community
Help tell the important stories, and communicate to the wider world how justice reinvestment can work
Coordinate and advocate for policy and systems changes that support justice reinvestment
Why do we do it
Our justice system is in crisis. We need better solutions to keep communities safe, and create brighter future pathways for people.
SRWA is a coalition of non-government organisations that formed in 2014 with the purpose of ending the systemic overcriminalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in WA’s justice system. We believe that justice reinvestment can play a key role in achieving this goal, and improve the social, cultural, and emotional wellbeing, and safety of the whole community.
Changing big systems starts with communities, and locally led solutions.
What we’ve done
Spoken, presented, and workshopped with thousands of people across WA about justice reinvestment
Worked alongside four communities as they started putting JR into action
Advocated to local, state, and federal governments for the shifts needed to support JR
Developed tools, templates and resources to help communities get started
Held state-wide justice reinvestment forums, worked with allies across the nation as part of the JR Network of Australia
When we started this work, justice reinvestment was a new and emerging space in Australia. Not many people knew about it or believed it could be a real alternative to continual cycles of crime and imprisonment, and we were still learning about how justice reinvestment might look. We are proud today to have played a part in getting justice reinvestment into mainstream focus- and we look forward to working with communities, government, organisations, and allies to see Justice Reinvestment reach its full potential.
How SRWA can support your community or organisation
Facilitating the WA Justice Reinvestment Community of Practice to support connection with others leading the way!
The WA Justice Reinvestment Community of Practice is a gathering of those working in justice reinvestment in WA, which gets together online 4 times a year. This is a collaborative learning group, where we have focused conversations on different aspects of place-based justice reinvestment, and each share our approaches, experiences, ideas and aspirations on these topics. We’re also working to identify opportunities to collaborate on advocacy and shared resources.
Membership is open to anyone connected to a justice reinvestment initiative, including backbone teams, community members of leadership groups, and connected service sector personnel. We aim to keep the membership consistent, and encourage people to attend consistently so we can build relationships and trust among the group.
Organising the annual WA Justice Reinvestment Summit
Since 2023, SRWA has held a an annual, in-person summit focused on justice reinvestment and community-led approaches to smart justice.
This event has grown year on year, and provided a vital space for communities to unpack justice reinvestment approaches, build collaborative and community leadership, and consider new ways to address justice issues, from both grassroots and systemic levels. It’s an important moment for communities to connect, upskill, and share with one another.
Keep an eye out for announcements about our next Summit in late 2026
Facilitating training & workshops on justice reinvestment and related topics
SRWA’s team can work with you to deliver customised information sessions, training, workshops and other justice reinvestment sessions that might assist your community on your JR journey.
Topics range from introductions to justice reinvestment, developing community justice reinvestment plans, asset mapping, supporting lived experience storytelling, unpacking local data, advocacy training, preparing to measure impact, communicating about justice reinvestment and so much more
Providing our Justice Reinvestment Toolkits to help guide communities
Our team has developed a range of tools, templates and resources to help you understand what place-based, community-led justice reinvestment can look like, and help you get started. Check out our tools for communities page for more!
Help you tell stories about justice reinvestment
We LOVE telling stories about justice reinvestment, what it means to communities, and the impact it is having!
If you’ve got a story you want to tell or share, please reach out to see how we can help!
Help you build evidence to show that justice reinvestment is making a difference
Identifying the difference justice reinvestment is making in your community is an important way to build momentum, gain additional support, and start conversations about reinvesting in what matters most locally.
If you need help getting started, let us know and we can have a yarn and help identify the best next steps.