ON Thursday 26 May, the Circle Sentencing Court Program in Macksville received the NSW Premier’s Award certificate.

The Circle Sentencing Program in Kempsey received the award on Friday 27 May.

Nambucca Valley and Kempsey were the first to host the award in the regions where the program is delivered.

Circle Sentencing is an alternative sentencing court for adult Aboriginal offenders held in a community setting.

Aboriginal community members, the local Magistrate, police prosecutor, solicitor for the accused, the accused, the victim, support people and the local sheriff attend the Circle Sentencing sessions.

The respected Aboriginal community members sentence the offender after hearing from members of the Circle, including the victim giving their account and sharing the effects that the crime has had on them.

The program first began in the Nambucca Valley in 2009 after trials running elsewhere in NSW.

Following the initial success the program has now been rolled out in a number of locations across NSW.

Victor Darcy, Senior Aboriginal Client and Community Support Officer Department of Communities and Justice said, “The Circle court is all about offenders being made accountable.

“It makes the offender take responsibility for their behaviours.”

Kevin Jarrett, panel member and Aboirgional Health worker for NSW Health, said, “The victim gets to speak up.

“They get a voice and a safe place to tell their story.

“The accused disempowers them and the circle empowers them.”

Mr Jarrett explained, “The beauty of the circle is that you get the support of the others in the circle.

“It is hard making these judgements on offenders that we often know.

“But we get to come to a general consensus, we decide how to manage the different views for the best outcome for the accused.

“There is a big responsibility on the offender to get themselves back on track once they have been to Circle court.”

Mayor Rhonda Hoban explained her first experience of Circle Sentencing in 2009.

“I was sceptical and half expected a patronising process based on a sympathy vote for the disadvantaged.

“How wrong I was.

“It was no soft option.

“It’s not a system where excuses are made and it must be very hard for the Elders to participate in determining the punishment when it is often a person from their own community and they are all too familiar with some of the challenges the offender may have faced in life.”

Mayor Hoban sees one strength in the program being that the offender knows that even though the community members have handed down the sentence, they are there afterwards as a “support network to help them keep to their commitments and stay out of trouble”.

Mr Darcy, a passionate advocate for the program, told News Of The Area, “Magistrates in the local court don’t get to hear the journey and the offender’s whole story.

“In the Circle Court they hear everything.

“It’s raw and hard but it works.”

By Rachel MCGREGOR-ALLEN