Circle sentencing is the NSW approach to what is generally called ‘indigenous courts’ which operates in most (except Tasmania) Australian jurisdictions. The idea is to bring a level of cultural awareness and significance to the traditional criminal justice system, and generally involves using Aboriginal elders as advisors in the sentencing of Indigenous offenders.
These courts are often held in community areas without all of the formal trappings of the traditional courts, and are open to community members. It’s important to note that it isn’t a ‘soft option’ or, strictly speaking, a diversion, but rather an example of traditional western justice assuming a more culturally appropriate face. The sentencing decision is still made by a judge or a magistrate, however ideally they will also have access to more culturally appropriate sentences.
What is Circle Sentencing in Australia?
Circle sentencing is an alternative method of sentencing Aboriginal offenders which involves the offender’s community in the sentencing process. This bulletin considers whether people who participate in circle sentencing (1) show a reduction in the frequency of their offending, (2) take longer to re-offend and/or (3) reduce the seriousness of their offending.
The results suggest that circle sentencing has no effect on any of these outcomes. Circle sentencing participants offended less in the 15 months following their circle. However, the same was also true of Aboriginal people sentenced in a traditional court setting (the control group). After a range of offender and offense characteristics were controlled for, we found no difference between the circle sentencing group and the control group in time to re-offend. Finally, there was no difference between the circle sentencing group and the control group in the percentage of offenders whose next offense was less serious than the reference offense.
