Restorative justice for people who have been harmed
If you have been harmed by a crime, you may have questions about what happened. You might want the person who harmed you to explain their actions. You might want them to know how their actions have affected you.
Restorative justice gives you the chance to communicate with the person who has harmed you and to hold them accountable. Restorative justice gives you a voice and provides a safe and structured space for you to say what you want to say.
How restorative justice can help you
In the ACT, over 95% of people who take part in restorative justice find it to be helpful. Many find that meeting or communicating with the person responsible helps them to:
- feel more supported and less alone
- experience less distress in relation to the incident
- feel better about the future.
Here are some things participants find helpful about restorative justice:
- Restorative justice is a safe, guided process for you to talk about what happened and how it affected you and those close to you.
- Restorative justice can help you feel safer and more in control.
- It's a chance to hear the person responsible explain what they did, be accountable, and offer ways to make things better.
- You can get answers to questions and address unresolved issues and concerns.
- You can have a say about what the person responsible should do to make things better.
- Others can better understand what happened and they can help to make things better for you.
- The person responsible may better understand the need to commit to behaviour change.
- You are encouraged to include one or more close family members or friends to support you through the process.
You can also read:
- our factsheet for persons harmed [PDF 450kB]
- a pamphlet for persons harmed [PDF 941kB]
- our Easy English booklet: A Person Harmed Me [PDF 1.28MB]
Learn more about how restorative justice works on our webpage.
Video introduction to restorative justice
How does restorative justice work? Take a look to find out.
Being the victim of any crime can be a traumatic experience.
What's more, the criminal justice process can seem long, stressful and complicated.
Something that's both unfamiliar and daunting for you as the victim, and that can leave you feeling powerless and excluded.
Restorative justice can change this by giving you the opportunity to take an active part and create a process of justice that meets your needs.
It gives you a voice, a chance to take back control by giving you the opportunity to communicate with the offender, which could mean meeting them face to face and let them know the real impact of what they've done.
What's more, it really works, but when exactly do you get the chance for restorative justice?
Opportunities for it run like a thread through the whole justice system.
It just needs both parties to agree to it, for it to be safe and for the offender to be taking responsibility.
Then it can happen either alongside the justice process or as a part of it and take place at pre-charge, pre-sentence or post sentence.
You can set the ball in motion yourself by making an inquiry with the restorative justice unit, and there are various stages where it may also be offered to you depending on the seriousness of the crime.
For example, after an arrest, the police sometimes decide to deal with a less serious offense without going to court by using a variety of measures at their disposal. Restorative justice can be a part of this.
If this doesn't happen, your case may go to court.
If the offender then pleads guilty, the judge or magistrate can sometimes decide to refer a matter for restorative justice and in some cases defer sentencing to see whether any restorative justice conference and agreement is completed by the offender, or the completion of a restorative justice agreement could be made a condition of a good behaviour order.
Sometimes the offender may be sent to prison instead, and restorative justice can take place while they are inside.
Finally, it can also happen after an offender leaves prison while they're on parole.
Even if you were a victim years ago, you can still benefit.
Remember, you can contact the restorative justice unit to find out how you can access restorative justice.
When it does take place, it will be delivered by a trained facilitator who will support you through the process.
Restorative justice is a real opportunity for you to have your say.
It includes you in the justice process, helps you stop being a victim and to move on and pull all the strains of your life back together.
What you should know before you decide to do restorative justice
There are some things you should think about before you decide to do restorative justice:
- You don’t have to do restorative justice if you don’t want to. You can decide not to take part at any time.
- If the person responsible hasn’t already been sentenced for the crime, the Court may take your participation in restorative justice into consideration when sentencing.
- You don’t have to sign an agreement.