Australian Red Cross
Justice Reinvestment trial in Ceduna, South Australia
Collier Charitable Fund is generously supporting Red Cross’ seven year commitment to a Justice Reinvestment trial in Ceduna, South Australia, to test the viability of this approach in Australia.
Justice Reinvestment is a transformative approach that addresses the root causes of crime based on evidence that a significant proportion of offenders come from, and return to, a small number of communities. Its impetus rests on evidence that prisons are not as effective deterrents as previously thought. This approach has been successfully trialled overseas including in the United States and United Kingdom, with impressive results.
Collier Charitable Fund is supporting key components of the overall trial that has allowed Red Cross to implement the Justice Reinvestment approach by undertaking community consultation through tailored activities and structured engagement. Support for the first stage has enabled the formation of positive and trusting relationships with the Ceduna, Yalata, Oak Valley and Koonibba communities and the 10 Aboriginal Homelands through the Far West Mojo program https://farwestmojo.wordpress.com/category/mojo/. The second stage aims to mobilise support and activate engagement from findings of the community consultation that will address recidivism and incarceration rates within the community.
This current support continues a shared 64 year history between Collier Charitable Fund and Australian Red Cross since the Fund’s inception in 1955, with Collier having provided Red Cross with nearly $2.8m to support many of its strategic priorities. For example, Collier’s support has helped build Red Cross' capacity nationally to deliver Youth Mental Health Initiatives including Talk Out Loud and Save a Mate; supported the Bushfire Recovery Unit to develop a long-term recovery strategy; improved Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Maternal and Child Health; and has significantly increased Red Cross' capacity to assist people in immigration detention by improving and formalising training, management, retention and career progression for volunteer Humanitarian Observers through the Immigration Detention Volunteer Capacity Building Program.