By Danielle Kutchel
Dandenong Magistrates’ Court has become the 12th location in Victoria to host an Adult Koori Court, after its official opening in an emotional and uplifting ceremony on Friday 24 January.
The launch event incorporated aspects of Aboriginal culture, including a smoking ceremony, and acknowledged the many years of work involved to get Koori Court up and running in Dandenong.
Local Elders Aunty Pat and Aunty Elaine welcomed those assembled and highlighted the importance of the court to Aboriginal people.
Koori Court, which is a division of the Magistrates’ Court, aims to address and reduce offending behaviour by including the Koori community in the court process.
The hearings operate according to the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence.
They are less formal than regular Magistrates’ Court sittings, using plain English rather than legal terminology.
The parties sit around a table, with the magistrate leading a conversation about sentencing that includes input from the accused’s family, a Koori Court officer, and an Elder or Respected Person who provides cultural advice.
In a speech at the launch, Joanne Atkinson of the Koori Court described it as “a tough word with a soft hand”.
She told the Journal that Koori Court is “a healing court”.
“Our mob come in broken, they come in feeling voiceless, and the Koori Court is about giving them a voice.
“It’s a place where, maybe for the first time, a community member walks through the door and they hear an Elder speak to them.
“It’s about making court a culturally safe space for our mob,” she said.
The court has already sat five times since commencing in May 2019.
To have a matter dealt with in the Koori Court a person must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, plead guilty and take responsibility for their offending.
The court does not hear matters that involve a sexual offence or breach of an intervention order.
Magistrates’ Court of Victoria’s Chief Magistrate, Judge Lisa Hannan, said the Koori Court had led the way in improving justice outcomes for Indigenous Victorians.
“Koori Courts are successful in encouraging defendants to fully participate in the justice system and their own rehabilitation, deterring many from re-offending and helping them to turn their lives around,” she said.
“The south-east metropolitan region accounts for 23 per cent of Victoria’s Koori population, so it was important that MCV bring a Koori Court to Dandenong.”
Over its years of operation elsewhere, Koori Court has brought about improved relationships between the Koori community and the police.
Koori Court will also work closely with community organisations that can provide services to the accused person as they embark on their healing journey.
Aunty Pat used to work as an Elder at the Koori Court table, and said she had witnessed first-hand how it had changed lives in other parts of the state.
“I kept telling them, don’t go down the crooked road – turn the other way,” she recalled.
Lead Magistrate for Koori Courts, Rose Falla, called Elders like Aunty Pat “the jewel in the Koori Court crown”.
“Without them, the court is simply another sentencing court,” she said.
“A lot of Elders – and Aunty Pat is one of them – have always seen serving the community as a duty, but it’s not a negative duty. It’s our cultural obligation.
“Our notion of families … is extended in a sense to the Koori Court. But it’s also the firm words and recognising that the way a person’s behaved is contrary to Aboriginal law as well as the law that applies to us all equally. It’s the Elders reminding you of your obligations, and it’s so moving.”
“It’s the same sentencing act that applies in Koori Court as in any other court; it’s just taking the opportunity to do things differently,” Ms Falla added.
