Indigenous Justice, April 2026

The NJCA Indigenous Justice Program (the Program) is a unique national judicial education program, led by a unique committee. In accordance with best practice principles, the NJCA is delighted to be delivering this program, led by First Nations judicial officers from across Australia.

Linking social context awareness training with court-craft skills, the Program is designed to foster critical judicial thinking about the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples and how this increased understanding can be realised by judicial officers through court-craft in courtrooms across Australia.

Led by a dedicated program committee of First Nations judicial officers from across jurisdictions and court hierarchies, the Program will enable judicial officers to attain a heightened understanding and comprehension of the concepts fundamental to the development of Indigenous identity. Aboriginal history and culture, social justice, shared histories and connection to country will be explored through scaffolded experiential judicial learning sessions, equipping and refocusing the court-craft skills, communication skills, cognitive empathy development and compassionate judicial leadership skills of judicial participants.

The Program offers a transformative perspective on indigenous justice, designed, developed and delivered by First Nations judicial officers.  By the end of the Program, participants will be able to:

• critically examine judicial practices and challenges across Australian jurisdictions
• explore how Australian judges assist and provide support to First Nations judicial officers,
• encourage a rich and meaningful sharing of knowledge between jurisdictions, including the merits of a strengths-based approach
• identify how judges, as a collective, truly understand cultural and emotional burdens and perspectives
• provide a broadened perspective on judging and justice
• appreciate the importance of honouring the strength and resilience of Indigenous women and girls
• consider how to inspire innovative approaches and strengthen their commitment to justice within their own courts.

Judicial misunderstanding, unfitting questioning, inappropriate jury directions and judicial comments that fail to recognise First Nations persons bicultural and/or bidialectal do not optimise fair and equitable legal outcomes.

Citizens who trust the judiciary and the courts are more likely to engage with the justice system to address their legal issues and to work with its systems and processes.  It is undeniable that the level of distrust placed in the judiciary by Indigenous Australians has accelerated at a far greater pace than broadly declining institutional trust. And rapidly declining trust in judges and courts equates to the rapidly declining legitimacy of judges, the Australian judiciary, and the justice system. How can a judge in exercising his/her judicial function seek to rebuild the trust of Indigenous peoples who come before the courts through targeted and culturally focussed court-craft skills?

This Program has been designed to not only take judges on a deeper dive into social context awareness but to clearly link this increased awareness with practical strategies and processes to rebuild trust and optimise fair and equitable outcomes in the Australian justice system.

The program includes a whole day on-country session where participants will engage in judicial learning led by elders and members of the local Aboriginal peoples and communities. This is to be followed by two conference days in Alice Springs.