Geraldton Family Violence Court

The Department of the Attorney General, the Department of Corrective Services and the Geraldton Aboriginal community are working in partnership on a project to reduce Aboriginal imprisonment resulting from family and domestic violence.

The project was launched in December 2005 and is one of the State Government's eight Reducing Aboriginal Imprisonment strategies.

A model has been developed for Geraldton which includes recommended changes to court processes, victim and offender programs and services, public education and community support. Work on implementing this model began in October 2006.

The first services to be offered through this project began in August 2007 with the launch of Barndimalgu Court. This alternative court service hears family and domestic violence charges involving Aboriginal people. The service provides offenders with the opportunity to complete programs to address their violent behaviour before the final sentence is delivered.

The court is operated by the Department of the Attorney General, with offender programs provided by the Department of Corrective Services.

The project is supported by the Geraldton Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA) local group, which provides a link between the Geraldton Aboriginal community and the departments of the Attorney General and Corrective Services. 

Geraldton's Community Justice Services provides the AJA with regular updates on the family and domestic violence project and uses community feedback from the AJA to inform the project.