Youth justice conferencing benefits
Youth justice conferencing has positive benefits for all involved and has received consistently high satisfaction ratings from all participants, including victims.
Conferencing provides an opportunity for the young person to:
- admit the offence and accept responsibility for their offending behaviour
- understand in a real and tangible way the consequences of their actions on others
- repair some of the harm caused by their offending behaviour and feel proud of their efforts to put things right.
It also provides an opportunity for the young person's family and community to be heard and to be involved in decision-making about the offending behaviour.
Conferencing provides an opportunity for the victim to:
- participate in the process of working out how the young person should make up for causing the harm and damage
- negotiate an agreement to repair the harm. This could include an apology, replacing or paying for the damage, or performing voluntary work for the victim or wider community
- be involved in the justice process
- tell their story directly to the person who caused them harm
- seek answers to the questions that they may have about the crime and why they were the subject of the offence.
Last reviewed: 20 October 2009