news

Summary

Thorsborne, Margaret (2000). The triumphs and challenges of restorative justice in Australian schools Paper presented at the Restorative and Community Justice: Inspiring the Future conference, held in Winchester, England, 28-31 March.

Community conferencing was introduced into Queensland (Australia) schools in 1994. Two separate studies by Education Queensland have shown the process is effective across a number of dimensions – for example, participant satisfaction, rates of re-offending, compliance with agreements, and reintegration of the offender. At the same time, that two-year experience with community conferencing in schools has highlighted a range of implementation issues. These have in turn exposed tensions between existing philosophies and practices in managing behaviors and restorative interventions. Margaret Thorsborne, director of Transformative Justice Australia, examines the Queensland experience, thus identifying both the successes and the difficulties related to restorative justice in schools.