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

  • Supported the development of the Commonwealth Government’s National Justice Reinvestment Program through the federal attorney general’s office

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! (Click here if you’re interested to join)

  • Organising the annual WA Justice Reinvestment Summit

  • Facilitating training on justice reinvestment and related topics

  • Developing our Justice Reinvestment Toolkits for communities

  • Help you tell stories about justice reinvestment

  • Help you build evidence to show that justice reinvestment is making a difference

Get in touch with our team to find out more!

 

Ready to start your JR Journey?