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December 14, 2022
Cultural reports eyed for Aboriginal justice
Gideon Porter
Posted On December 14, 2022
Download AudioAn Aboriginal lawyer says the cultural reports which form part of sentencing could be something which is needed across the Tasman.
Bryce Wilson from the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency was a speaker at this month’s Sir Peter Williams Penal Reform League summer conference.
He says he’ll be taking back some valuable lessons and insights, including the presentation from Shelly Turner, the managing director of Cultural Reports NZ, about how her lived experiences with incarceration, addiction, gangs, and domestic violence helps inform the Section 27 cultural reports she writes for clients.
“Her presentation really inspired me, and allowed me to recharge in that space, to be able to come back here to the Northern Territories, and be able to look through that lens of what work she does, and how we could potentially apply it here in the Northern Territory or how we as defence lawyers could avocate it in that space,” Mr Wilson says.
Cultural reports in Australia aren’t enshrined in legislation and so they have less impact on sentencing.
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