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presented at the 11th International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics Asia/Oceania Regional Congress, 23-27 October 2019, Taipei, Taiwan

Mainstream sentencing courts do little to change the behavior of partner violence offenders, let alone members of more socially marginal groups. Indigenous offenders face a court system that has little relevance to the complexity of their relations and lived experiences. Assisted by respected Elders and Community Representatives, Australian Indigenous sentencing courts seek to create a more meaningful sentencing process that has a deeper impact on Indigenous offenders' attitudes and, ultimately, their behavior. Drawing from interviews with 30 Indigenous offenders, we explore the ways in which the courts can motivate Indigenous partner violence offenders on pathways to desistence.

Full Text, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arts, Education and Law, In response to feminist activism inside and outside government, all Australian states and territories enacted civil law responses to domestic and family violence in the early to mid-1980s. These laws were part of a broader feminist agenda to interrupt and, ultimately, dismantle gender inequality. There are legislative differences and similarities amongst the Australian states and territories, but all provide a swift legal restraint on domestic violence perpetrators through a civil court order. There are, however, unintended negative consequences of these laws for women. My thesis is that the lack of an intersectional policy analysis, specifically the failure to consider race and class as well gender in the development of the legislation has amplified the unintended negative consequences for Indigenous women. I demonstrate this through a mixed methods research design, drawing on four bodies of theoretical thought to examine: 1) gender and race differences in the application of legislative provisions that reflect specific gendered aspirations; and 2) the kind of violence perpetrated, and the context in which it occurs. Using passage of the Domestic Violence (Family Protection) Act 1989 (Qld) as a case study, I first conduct a thematic analysis of parliamentary debates on relevant legislative Bills to explicate the gendered aspirations in the civil domestic violence law. I find that despite the Act’s gender-neutral language, its intent is to address a particular kind of violence (an ongoing pattern of coercive control), with a particular kind of victim in mind (a subjugated, powerless woman). Gendered aspirations, expressed through specific legislative provisions, have not been fully realised in practice; worse, and as others have observed, a number of unintended consequences have emerged, including that women who are victims of violence are themselves subject to court-imposed domestic violence orders. I argue that this unintended consequence results from the failure o

Australian Indigenous focused cross-cultural professional development for the judiciary is an evolving area. In other professional service sectors, such as health and education, cultural safety is becoming the benchmark. However, for the Australian justice sector cultural awareness, and to a lesser extent cultural competency, dominate discussion, and cultural safety is only an emerging discourse. Most judicial officers (indeed most Australian public servants and legal practitioners) would be familiar with the concept of Indigenous cultural awareness as part of their standard professional development training, however, the significance of cultural competency, and the application of cultural safety principles are less well recognised. This paper documents the extent to which Australian judges and magistrates are trained or guided in accommodating the cultural needs of Indigenous courtroom participants. In particular, we review and critique the extent to which Indigenous specific cross-cultural education (in the form of short courses, seminars, conferences, cultural immersion tours, site visits, and as contained in bench books) is currently available for Australian judicial officers. In documenting current practice, we consider whether cultural awareness, cultural competency or cultural safety can be achieved by way of current judicial training and court practice guidelines. Taking into account the experiences of all Indigenous participants in the courtroom, as well as the fact that the over-representation of Indigenous offenders in the Australian criminal justice system continues to be a significant and complex issue, we conclude that it is necessary for judicial officers to be equipped with the capacity to ensure that their courtrooms are culturally safe when having to accommodate the needs of all Indigenous participants.

In common law countries that have been colonized, the colonized peoples are overrepresented in criminal justice statistics and in rates of incarceration. Sentencing laws and court processes have, for some time, undergone changes to reduce or address the continuing rise of indigenous over-incarceration. This essay focuses on three colonized common law countries: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, in examining what legal strategies have been used to transform judicial reasoning and practice to take into account the particular experiences and circumstances of indigenous offenders. Whether these changes have improved the situation in practice is explored in this essay. The essay concludes by examining what role and responsibilities judicial officers should have in administering justice for peoples who have been, and continue to be, dispossessed of their culture, laws, and language by the process of colonization, and suggests directions for future research.

As our population is aging, the global prevalence of dementia is rising. Recent extensive reviews of the dementia literature highlight a clear need for additional qualitative research to address the experiences of people with dementia and their carers. To date, the vast majority of published dementia research is quantitative in nature and, perhaps not surprisingly, attracts the bulk of government funding. In contrast, qualitative dementia research is poorly resourced and less frequently published. Although a myriad of factors are responsible for this dichotomy, we propose that inadequate funding represents the "elephant in the room" of dementia research. In this article, we describe and emphasize the need for qualitative dementia research, highlight existing barriers, and outline potential solutions. Examples of barriers are provided and theoretical underpinnings are proposed.

Driving is a complex task, yet some people with dementia are capable of driving safely. As driving a vehicle is a privilege and not a right, clinicians are often called upon to provide guidance regarding their patients' ability to drive safely. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has predicted that by 2056, one in four Australians will be aged over 65. Older members of our community are increasingly dependent upon the private car as their preferred, and in some cases only viable, mode of transport. Given that the prevalence of dementia rises with age, we can expect an increased number of drivers with dementia on our roads. As outlined in the National Health and Medical Research Council 2013-15 Strategic Plan, Australian health ministers have designated dementia and injury prevention as national health priority areas.12 Thus, there now exists both an impetus and an opportunity to address the issue of driving and dementia on a national level. The purpose of this editorial is to consider: (1) the social impact of a loss of licence; (2) driver and health professional obligations to report conditions that can adversely affect driving; and (3) the response of motor vehicle insurers to the issue of driving with dementia.

Marsley JA. The facts from which this appeal against sentence arises are unfortunately all too common in Indigenous communities, and indeed in non-Indigenous Australian society as well. they involve violence against partners. The facts are outlined below. What makes this case particularly unsettling is the young ages of the people involved, which, although not necessarily uncommon for partner violence offences heard in Indigenous sentencing courts across the country, is indicative of a trend amongst teenagers and young adults to resolve disputes using violence. This trend is even more troubling wihen it involves situations of partner violence.

Indigenous sentencing courts are now an established form of innovative justice practice in most Australian jurisdictions. Whether such processes, which involve the participation of local community elders or representatives in sentencing an offender, provide a "better" form of justice is still up for debate. Recidivism analyses have yet to find that these courts are more likely to reduce reoffending than their mainstream counterparts. Some scholars argue that this is not the sole purpose of the courts and that other measures of "success" should be utilised when evaluating their performance. This article uses interviews with judicial officers, elders, community representatives, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous court workers to explore what the courts are seeking to achieve and how that translates into a different form of doing justice.