Page 125 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016
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Restorative justice practices are also being advocated in other areas. Just recently, in relation to the review of the Retirement Villages Act 2012, it was suggested that an alternative dispute resolution mechanism be provided to residents and operators in order to peacefully find resolution to minor conflicts before they are referred to an ACAT hearing which, as we all know, can be daunting for many. A more informal and personal opportunity where both parties can work through their disputes in a comfortable and relaxed environment, in my opinion, will see many matters resolved more easily for all parties.
We are also seeing other initiatives in restorative justice. For example, at the University of Canberra there are already discussions happening in relation to possibly embedding restorative practices into curriculum. I acknowledge the Dean of Education, Professor Geoff Riordan, for his interest in restorative justice and his efforts that could see incorporating restorative practice into future coursework. I have enjoyed working with Professor Riordan and his team, Associate Professor Wayne Hawkins and Associate Professor Thomas Nielsen, who are already working with schools to measure different impacts on student learning in classrooms, offering student wellbeing, social concern and restorative opportunities in participating schools. It is very gratifying to hear the universities and schools are coming together and reaping the benefits when implementing restorative practices.
I was also pleased to hear that Professor Thomas Nielsen showcases a video of Professor John Braithwaite, a champion in restorative justice, during his lectures to his students studying education, which followed on from an earlier meeting that I had with Professor Thomas Nielsen many years ago. He was so enthusiastic about the discussion that he went away and did some research, and since then he has been using Professor John Braithwaite’s video in his lectures.
Let me further expand on this restorative city vision which is coming closer to becoming a reality in the ACT. Restorative cities have already been established globally, such as Wanganui in New Zealand and also Nova Scotia in Canada, where the human rights commission has implemented restorative processes in dealing with dispute resolution, dramatically decreasing the length of time taken to resolve matters as well as increasing the level of satisfaction of affected parties. That is no surprise to me. Restorative cities form a global community where they share information and policies with each other, and the ACT can and one day will be a part of this interconnected global community.
I also thank the ACT Restorative Justice Champions for their hard work and their vision in bringing this process to fruition in the ACT. We have come a long way and I am extremely proud to have been a part of it. I know Canberra can and will be a world-leading restorative city and I know this Labor government is ideally placed to make it happen. As we know, the ACT government has been a leader in many areas, and certainly in this aspect in Australia the ACT government has shown great leadership.
I call on the ACT government to work towards the declaration of Canberra as a restorative city, which confirms it commitment to exploring and implementing
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