A trial evaluation has shown an increase in services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders has had a positive impact on the participants and their families.
The Minister for Justice Shane Rattenbury today released an evaluation of the Winnunga Justice Reinvestment Trial conducted by the Australian National University Centre for Social Research and Methods.
Minister Rattenbury said that the aim of the Trial, funded by the ACT Government and implemented by Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services, was to empower families to be self-reliant in navigating the system to get the right help from the right place at the right time.
“The evaluation confirmed that the Trial is meeting its objectives. It is providing strong benefits to families including keeping families together, preventing homelessness and keeping people out of prison,” Minister Rattenbury said.
During the Trial, drug and alcohol counselling, midwifery services, dental services, psychologist and psychiatrist services, and advocacy services were significantly increased for participants.
Winnunga AHCS CEO Ms Julie Tongs said ‘Winnunga is an Aboriginal community controlled and managed organisation, an integral and trusted part of the community, and this is why the JR Trial worked and could not be duplicated by a mainstream community or government service provider’.
‘The need for after-hours support continues to be an issue Winnunga has identified over many years, and it is good to see this has emerged as a key theme through the evaluation, which should be considered as an opportunity for improvement. Crisis is not limited to business hours and so after-hours support would be a logical step for support that seeks to address family and personal issues as they emerge, before they escalate further’ Ms Tongs added.
“The evaluation concluded that Winnunga provided a proactive, intensive and problem-oriented system of case management and the participants reported significant improvements in their family, personal and social well-being,” Minister Rattenbury said.
The outcomes and recommendations from the evaluation have been used to inform the funding and operating model for future service provision.
The Trial is a product of the whole-of-government commitment to the provision of intensive family-centric case management for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families as part of the ACT Government’s Justice Reinvestment Strategy.
The evaluation can be accessed at: www.justice.act.gov.au.
