Post Box 20, 27 Mulley Street, Holder 2611

02 6147 3369

Advocacy and support for families of detainees

Advocacy and support for families of detainees

Support for ex-offenders and people on community-based orders

Support for ex-offenders and people on community-based orders

Community Capacity Building Workshops

Community Capacity Building Workshops

Welcome to Tjillari Justice

Tjillari Justice Aboriginal Corporation provides a range of support services, case management and programs to address the toxic stress and trauma that children and families experience when they have a parent involved in the justice system. The service uses a Family Justice Model, which builds on and draw out the strengths of families and community to manage issues associated with incarceration and, hopefully, to break the cycle of reoffending and recidivism.


Small Seeds Program

Sat Mar 2020

Helps to support incarcerated offenders to read to their children and encourages early childhood literacy...

'Surviving Out Side'

Sat Mar 2020

A holistic and responsive life-skills based program which is underpinned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait...

Galambany Circle

Sat Mar 2020

Providing support to people appearing before the Galambany Circle Sentencing Court.

Vision and Aims

That all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system live free from violence and discrimination, benefit from adequate living standards, are treated with dignity and respect and are empowered to secure and preserve their individual rights.

Empower

Develop and deliver programs that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to take control of their own lives through addressing their immediate needs

Family

Reduce the recidivism rate of imprisoned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people by engaging families and community in a family justice model of service delivery.

Culture

Develop longer terms and stable support mechanisms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in general.

Impact

Educate the community, families and Government agencies on the impact that parental involvement with the justice system has on children

This program is a life skills-based program which aims to teach participants how to manage those aspects of their own lives where they are having problems. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander culture underpins this holistic and responsive support program.

Skill Development

With approval from Centrelink as a valid job search program, the SOS program is about developing life skills especially around problem-solving skills, literacy and numeracy.

Because many of our clients have appeared before the Court because of driving offences, ‘I don’t have a car’ is an opportunity to work with the client and teach problem-solving skills.

‘So, how am I going to get around Canberra?’ We help them to look at what options they have.

“I can get Uber or Ola or catch the bus. I can get my mate to give me a lift’. We look at the pros and cons of their various options and talk through how they might access those options to solve problems.

We teach life skills that most of our clients have never learned. These are very often the skills that you learn in families. We help them work through practical challenges, such as proof of identification. This might mean applying for a birth certificate, but because a lot of our people are homeless and will not carry paperwork, we pay a little bit extra to get these sent via email, which allows us to store them. We look at things like ‘how do I open a bank account’, ‘how do I draw up a budget’. These are basic skills that most of us take for granted and it’s about teaching them to do these things for themselves. Many of the key learning areas revolve around:

  • Transport
  • Income and how do we manage our income
  • How do we deal with Medicare
  • How do we deal with Centrelink
  • Life skills and workability skills

Cultural Connections

The family justice model helps to give psychological security – ‘this is who I am and this is where I fit and what is expected of me’. Tjillari works with many blended families where siblings might have different cultural heritages, so we support people from all cultures and help them to find ways to identify within their own culture no matter what the cultural make-up of their family is.

One of the things we look at is ‘who am I and where am I from?’; connecting to culture and connecting to personal identity. We use this as an opportunity to talk about some of the roles and responsibilities of people from their culture. Many cultural roles and responsibilities are common right across Australia, so as a male with children they will have a responsibility towards their children. That is the most powerful motivator we have seen!

How can you help?

Tjillari Justice relies on donations and volunteers to deliver many of our programs, so please contact us to find out how you can get involved.

One of the things we are looking for is assistance with a vehicle. The reality is that families and clients in many instances have issues with transport and we can’t teach them and engage with them if we can’t get them to us. If you can help in this regard, we would love to hear from you.

Workshop and Training Room Facilities

Customised and Designed Learning Solutions