Community Restorative Centre (CRC)

25/08/2026

Coming up next week is Indigenous Literacy Day on September 2nd, a national day for the celebration of First Nations peoples’ stories, cultures and languages.

You can celebrate this year’s theme - Country Is Our Teacher - with a free film created for children from the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. In it you’ll be learning about life on Warlpiri Country in Nyirripi and Mpartntwe (Alice Springs) and learn words in Warlpiri and Arrente language. The film will be available to watch on demand from 2 September.

Register at ilf.org.au/ild

There will also be a livestream after the film’s debut on the 2nd, with a celebration of stories, cultures and languages live from Sydney Opera House involving song, storytelling, and further learning about Aboriginal cultures.

Our programs provide books to remote communities, publish books in langauge, and support further opportunities for young people.

25/08/2026

Pathways Home is a program for children and young people with criminal legal system involvement and who would like support around their alcohol and/ or other drug use.

Pathways Home provides respectful and culturally appropriate support, working with young people in custody to prepare for their return to community, assisting them to achieve their goals and create genuine pathways away from criminal legal system involvement.

Support is holistic and can include assistance with various issues, such as sourcing accommodation, physical and mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, education and employment, family connection and legal needs.

Learn more about the work Pathways Home does and find a referral form on our website.

24/08/2026

Today is Australian South Sea Islander National Recognition Day, when we recognise the history and contributions of the Australian South Sea Islander community.

Through blackbirding in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many people were taken from their homes and brought to Australia. The generational disadvantage this human trafficking caused continues to impact these communities today.

If you want to learn more about Australian South Sea Islander National Recognition Day, this article from Emelda Davis, chairwoman of the Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) (ASSIPJ) for the Australian Museum provides a history of recognition. https://australian.museum/learn/cultures/pasifika-collections/australian-south-sea-islander-recognition-day/

Pasifika people are overrepresented in the criminal legal system. Last year CRC staff took part in a Pasifika Client Support Workshop: Guided by Talanoa and Community Wisdom created and facilitated by Yasmin Lese and Diana Curuenavuli of The Number 8 Prison Project. Specialist training like this helps build culturally safe, respectful, and effective relationships working with clients.

The Number 8 Prison Project are a Pasifika founded and lead organisation that provides support to Pasifika people and families affected by carceral systems. Rooted in cultural values, they create safe spaces for healing, transformation, and reconnection not just serving the individual, but entire families and impacting entire communities.

23/08/2026

Do you have experience creating and managing various digital communications?
Can you turn complex ideas into engaging digital and learning resources for diverse audiences?

CRC are seeking applications for a Communications & Digital Learning Coordinator.

CRC has been supporting people leaving custody and their families for over 75 years, running effective, evidence-based programs that aim to break entrenched cycles of disadvantage, homelessness and imprisonment. CRC is recognised by Diversity Council Australia as an Inclusive Employer.

You can find out more about working with CRC and submit your application via our website.
https://www.crcnsw.org.au/about-us/work-with-crc/

▪ Full-time 38 hours per week
▪ Contract until 30 June 2029
▪ SCHADS Award Level 5 paypoint 3 ($110, 350 + super + generous salary packaging)
▪ Based in Canterbury
Work from home up to one day per week by agreement after onboarding

❓Questions? Email [email protected]
📝 Submit your application: https://www.crcnsw.org.au/about-us/work-with-crc/

Do you want to make a real difference by supporting people impacted by the criminal legal system? Join an inclusive, respectful and culturally safe workplace.

23/08/2026

The criminal legal system has been used as a tool to ‘manage’ young people with complex support needs who experience disadvantage. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up the majority of children who are incarcerated, and racism is both a factor in the likelihood of incarceration, and a common experience of First Nations people that CRC supports with prison system involvement.

Children who have mental health issues and disabilities, experienced traumas, homelessness, are victim-survivors of domestic and family violence are further traumatised by incarceration. Youth imprisonment increases the likelihood of further incarceration in adulthood.

Protect children from the trauma of incarceration.

CRC advocates for the decarceration of young people and improving access to appropriate community supports. We support the campaign that calls on our governments to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 across Australia.

Sign the petition calling to Raise the Age at https://raisetheage.org.au/

20/08/2026

This week on Jailbreak Chad speaks with mixed martial arts fighter Alex on keeping match fit when you're inside. How does Alex keep to his intense workouts when options are limited?

Listen to Jailbreak on 2SER 107.3FM this Sunday or stream anytime www.2ser.com/programs/jailbreak

20/08/2026

BREAKING: Today we’re at Parliament House handing over our petition with 50,000+ signatures calling for an Australian Human Rights Act. The message to the Albanese Government is clear: there is strong community support for a Human Rights Act to ensure everyone’s human rights are protected in law.

The petition was handed to a cross-section of Labor, Greens and independent Federal MPs and Senators. 50,000 people have spoken. Now it’s time for the Albanese Government to protect human rights.

The petition is organised by the Centre and Amnesty International Australia as part of the Human Rights Act Campaign, which is backed by 184 organisations nationwide.

Join the call for human rights protections: humanrightsact.org.au

20/08/2026

The Northern Territory Government's announcement of new prisons for Darwin doubles down on a system that is already failing. Building more prisons will entrench the revolving door back into custody while ignoring the evidence on what actually reduces crime. The NT is already the most incarcerated place in Australia, with six out of ten people released from NT prisons returning within two years. Real community safety comes from investment in the drivers of incarceration, not more cells to fill - read more in our media release here: https://loom.ly/9f1pdmE

19/08/2026

The following article from Sydney Criminal Lawyers discusses how the police drones trial in the Moree area has impacted the people living there since the rollout in February 2026.

https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/nsw-police-drone-surveillance-trial-in-moree-is-set-to-be-rolled-out-statewide/

This article brings up some of the issues between statements that the drones were not about surveillance, and the lived reality of the people of Moree. It also shares how claims of the apparent reduction in crime being attributed to the drones has not taken into account the targeted response to youth crime brought in during March 2024, and the stability shown in the NSW Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) figures months prior to drone operation beginning.

Unnecessary over-policing, over-surveillance, and over-supervision of First Nations communities is a too common occurrence that we discuss as one of the drivers of the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal legal system. Increasing police interactions, especially from a young age, increases the likelihood of incarceration. Greater surveillance and greater loss of privacy will not make our communities safer.

If you want to hear more from CRC regarding the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal legal system, you can read ‘CRC Submission for the Select Committee on the High Level of First Nations People in Custody and Oversight and Review of Deaths in Custody’ and other publications available on our website, under Advocacy and Research.

The NSW Police Force is singing the praises of its six-month trial of drone policing in the Moree region, and the authorities are keen to roll out the devices statewide.

18/08/2026

CRC would like to give a huge thank you to St Marys Diggers & Band Club! Their generous club grant will provide our Women's Transition clients with what they need to rebuild their lives after incarceration. St Marys Band Club St Marys Diggers

Grants like these have in the past helped us support women with basic needs and emergency assistance post-release, including costs associated with home set-ups, whitegoods, phones and travel costs.

This grant will enhance the delivery of holistic case management and provide practical flexibility in responding to immediate client needs. Thank you for supporting women to build genuine pathways away from the criminal legal system!