community-led justice solutions

Just Reinvest from Sydney, NSW is the winner of the Social Impact Award at the 2019 HESTA Community Sector Awards.

Awarded for advocating to reduce the number of young Aboriginal people in prisons by supporting community-led justice reinvestment initiatives and calling for systemic change to the criminal justice system. 

“Everything we do at Just Reinvest NSW is about having a social impact. Our work aims to redirect resources away from prisons and towards early intervention, crime prevention and diversion in communities,” said Just Reinvest NSW Chair Sarah Hopkins.

Over the last five years, Just Reinvest NSW has worked alongside Aboriginal leaders in Bourke as part of the community-led initiative known as Maranguka - which means caring for others in the Ngemba language. 

“Just Reinvest NSW look at ways to use data in community-led collaboration to create better outcomes for Aboriginal children, young people and their families to keep them away from the justice system.”

“We also address this issue from a policy perspective, by identifying legislative and policy changes at the state-wide level that can put downward pressure on the Aboriginal prison population,” said Sarah.

Sarah said Just Reinvest NSW is in the early stages of working with other NSW Aboriginal communities interested in utilising a justice reinvestment framework and is going to use the $10,000 prize for staff professional development and capacity building.