Accommodating Language Difference: A Collaborative Approach to Justice in the Koori Court of Victoria

Abstract

The Koori Court pilot program, initiated by the Victorian Government in 2002 following recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1991), addresses some of the concerns of a number of linguists including Eades 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996a, 1996b, 2000, 2003), Gibbons (1994, 2003), Walsh (1994,1995) and Cooke (1995) regarding the cultural and language disadvantages experienced by Indigenous Australians in the formal court context. This paper will examine ways in which the specific linguistic features that have been identified as problematic for Indigenous Australians in the courtroom context are addressed to some extent through the operation of the Koori Courts, such as alternatives to the question/answer format and recognition of cultural meanings attached to silence. Other associated innovations will be reviewed. Since the introduction of the Koori Courts, under the jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, findings indicate an overall increase in the level of awareness of legal professionals involved in this initiative, with a positive response from many of the Indigenous community groups involved in the legal process. New programs and specialist services have also been implemented by many supporting agencies, including partnership programs with Indigenous community groups by both Victoria Police and the courts. Currently there are four adult Koori Courts in operation in Victoria, and a fifth, Australia’s first Children’s Koori Court pilot program, was recently launched in Melbourne to address the high level of recidivism of juvenile offenders. An awareness of cultural and language difference by participants in the court context, through on-going education and training, has resulted in many of the special needs of Indigenous Australians being addressed, leading to a reduction in recidivism and a greater participation of local Indigenous communities in the legal process.