The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) together in partnership with the Community Justice Centre and the 15 participants, have worked tirelessly to realise this aspiration as part of a project funded by the Federal Attorney Generals Department.

 

NAAJA Chairperson, Mr. Norman George said “This is an initiative that the Tiwi people themselves have instigated.  Their involvement and participation in the workshop exposed their commitment to support community cohesion and Tiwi cultural relationships, and their desire to manage conflict effectively and thus alleviate court imposed solutions and criminal justice contact. What’s more, this approach is recognised as part of the community safety plan of Nguiu that nurtures more active participation in community wellbeing. ”.

 

Helen Bishop, NAAJA master mediator together with the Community Justice Centre’s Acting Director Ippei Okazaki and veteran indigenous family court mediator Maureen Abbott, were responsible for the development and facilitation of this overwhelmingly successful project.

 

“This training was significant because it enabled the Tiwi skin group system to be integrated with the western mediation model. For Tiwi, culture drives relationship and communication pathways. Western mediation attempts to process conflict arising from the break down of these areas. Unifying these two systems makes it possible to work in a culturally safe and process driven way with people seeking assistance” NAAJA mediator Helen Bishop said.