Koori Women's Mentoring Program

• NCJ Number: 194144
• Author(s): Justin Mohamed
• Date Published: October 2001
• Length: 3 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Paper presented at the Best Practice Interventions in Corrections for Indigenous People Conference, Sydney, Australia, October 8-9, 2001; downloaded February 5, 2002.

Annotation

This paper describes the development of Australia's Koori Women's Mentoring Program for Aboriginal women offenders under supervision in the community under the Aboriginal Justice Agreement.

Abstract

The Aboriginal Justice Agreement, which was developed and continues to be reviewed through extensive consultation with the Aboriginal communities and other key stakeholder groups, aims to minimize Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system by improving accessibility, use, and effectiveness of justice-related programs and services in partnership with the Aboriginal community. During the consultations involved in the development of the Agreement, the Aboriginal community indicated that there had been a significant gap in support programs for young Aboriginal women who were increasingly coming into contact with the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Under the mentoring program, Aboriginal female elders are used as mentors to provide advocacy and support for Aboriginal women at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system. The mentors develop linkages to other programs and services based on the individual needs of clients. Specific issues targeted in the mentor program are illicit drug use among young Aboriginal women and high rates of long-term depression. Other issues prevalent among young Aboriginal women are single motherhood, family violence, mental illness, and poor health. Other issues raised during the consultations are also listed.