Just Reinvest NSW

20/05/2026

Looks like a great opportunity for the young people with Mounty Aboriginal Youth & Community Services to have their voices heard! Thank you AbSec!

20/05/2026

Our Data & Research team Sylvia Howes and Talia Hagerty recently held a training workshop with our justice reinvestment partner in Dunghutti Country (Kempsey) Learning the Macleay and the Dhina Durriti Aboriginal Corporation. The training was on data fundamentals, data security, Excel and Power BI and is intended to build data skills and capacity in Aboriginal community-controlled organisations working to reduce contact with the criminal justice system and overincarceration.

Community-held and understood data is one of the bedrocks of the justice reinvestment approach and trainings like this are a vital step on the pathway to changing systems towards prevention, early intervention, and the self-determination of Aboriginal peoples in NSW.

Justice reinvestment only works when communities own the story their data tells.

NSW CAPO Priority Reform 4: Aboriginal Data Sovereignty & Governance

16/04/2026

Yesterday, our CEO Geoff Scott provided testimony to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Youth Justice. Here is the situation Geoff outlined to the Committee:

• Aboriginal young people are 61% of the NSW youth detention population, but only 4.5% of the state's youth population.

• 73% of young people in youth detention are on remand — meaning they haven't been convicted of anything. NSW is incarcerating legally innocent children.

• Fare evasion is the single most common offence bringing young people into contact with the justice system — 7,141 cases in 2024-2025. This is a policy problem, not a crime problem.

• Making public transport free for young people could reduce the state’s youth offender rate by roughly 40%.

• NSW Treasury's own modelling estimates over $1.8 billion costs could be avoided by addressing Aboriginal overrepresentation in the justice, child protection and out-of-home-care systems. The government is currently spending less than $8 million. That's not justice reinvestment – that’s a gross underinvestment.

Scroll the images below to see our calls to the Committee:

16/04/2026

Maranguka leading the way

15/04/2026

We’re supporting community leaders, frontline workers and First Nations advocates telling the NSW Government: it’s time to do better on youth justice for kids and communities. It’s time to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

In NSW, children as young as 10 can be sent to prison. That’s too young. The evidence shows arresting and locking up children harms them and doesn’t reduce crime. The best way to reduce the number of children in prisons and police cells is by making sure they never get there in the first place.

A NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Youth Justice is holding public hearings this week. Our message to decision-makers is clear – change your failing approach and invest in services and supports we know work.

As our Community Engagement Lead in Mt Druitt with Mounty Aboriginal Youth & Community Services Julie Williams says:

“Instead of changing the bail laws that send more kids to lock up for longer, like Chris Minns has done, we’ll be guided by the evidence to build a stronger, prouder and safer community for everyone.”

23/03/2026

Just Reinvest NSW stands in solidarity with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and supports its call to action in response to the NSW Government’s proposed changes to land rights legislation.

“The right of Aboriginal people in NSW to make land claims under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 is fundamental. It reflects decades of advocacy and is grounded in the principle of self-determination; just as communities have the right to lead place-based, community-driven responses to overincarceration through justice reinvestment.

“Efforts to weaken land rights, particularly without consultation, undermine this principle. Self-determination must be upheld consistently across all areas that impact Aboriginal communities, from land and culture to justice and community safety.

“We call on governments to respect and protect these rights, and we urge the broader community to stand with NSWALC, raise awareness, and take action to defend Aboriginal land rights in NSW.” - Geoff Scott, CEO Just Reinvest NSW

18/03/2026

See yourself here? We’re looking for our next Policy and Data Analyst.

Apply click https://www.seek.com.au/job/90959016

10/03/2026

04/03/2026

Justice Reinvestment Community of Practice

19/02/2026

Here's an excellent video by Learning the Macleay 's Jo Kelly explaining how their approach to systems change does not involve delivering programs, however means collaborating with the community to raise issues and find solutions