The University of Sydney
Justice Collaboration
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4th Edition, September 2024
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Introducing our new name - we are now the Justice Collaboration!
We have rebranded to reflect the growing scope of our collaboration and the projects of our members. The youth justice system remains a key focus of our work, but a broader scope will allow us to engage with other parts of the criminal justice system, will enable more inter-disciplinary projects and will help us improve outcomes for all involved in criminal justice systems.
Click the button below to see our refreshed website, and scroll down to explore exciting work and events from across the University of Sydney.
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The University of Sydney’s central campus sits on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and has campuses as well as teaching and research facilities situated on the ancestral lands of the Wangal, Deerubbin, Tharawal, Ngunnawal, Wiradjuri, Gamilaroi, Bundjulong, Wiljali and Gereng Gureng peoples. We pay our respects to elders, past, present, and emerging who have cared and continue to care for Country.
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Lluwannee George attends the 2024 Garma Festival
Collaboration member, and Manager of Indigenous Employment at the University, Lluwannee George recently attended the Garma Fesitval. She shared the following on her experience:
I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Garma Festival at the Gulkula ceremonial site, located about 40 kilometers from Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula, NT.
The Garma Festival, Australia’s largest Indigenous gathering, is a four-day celebration of Yolngu life and culture held in the remote northeast of Arnhem Land. Hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation, the festival showcases traditional miny’tji (art), manikay (song), bunggul (dance), and storytelling, serving as an important meeting point for the clans and families of the region.
The festival’s primary cultural mission is to create a contemporary environment for the expression and preservation of traditional Yolngu knowledge systems and customs, sharing these practices within an authentic Yolngu setting.
I spent four unforgettable days in the far north of Australia, joined by 20 other University of Sydney staff and 3,000 people from across Australia and the world. I’m still processing the experience. The Yolngu people are incredibly generous with their culture. Their storytelling is powerful, and the pride and respect they hold for their elders is truly special to witness. Seeing the children perform traditional dances with such pride absolutely melted my heart. They give so much, and I feel incredibly privileged to have been invited and welcomed onto their Country.
One of the final sessions was a youth statement, where young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from around the country shared their vision for the future and how we as a nation can achieve it. It was deeply moving, and although I’m not usually an emotional person, this session touched me profoundly. Our young people have so much strength and courage, and even after the referendum, they remain eager to fight for justice. They are immensely proud of their cultures, and witnessing their positivity and forward-thinking gave me the encouragement I needed to continue my work for my community, including the small but powerful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff community at the University of Sydney.
I understand that not everyone has the opportunity to travel to a remote community, but one of the things I learned to appreciate is that community exists everywhere. We create community—whether with our friends and family, through sporting clubs, or within community organizations. We build relationships and connections through trust, bridge-building, partnerships, and valuing and respecting each individual. This is what the Yolngu taught us. I can’t recall who said it, but one lesson that will stay with me is, “Everything moves at the speed of trust.”
Photo by Cornel Ozies and Laura Heron.
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Service Learning in Indigenous Communities
Service Learning in Indigenous Communities (SILC) units allow student groups to work on essential projects co-designed and directed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Over the course of the semester students learn about the community and design projects in response to the community’s priorities. This culminates in a trip to the host community in which students finalise and conduct their community projects.
This semester students will be working in Aboriginal communities in north Queensland with University and Community supervisors and Girringun Aboriginal Corporation (GAC). Girringun Aboriginal Corporation is diverse and dynamic, and they are looking to expand their footprint in areas including community services, environment and marine protection, the Indigenous arts sector, biodiversity and education. In the five projects being undertaken this semester—ranging from strengthening Girringun’s financial future, to securing the traditional use of marine resources —the focus will be on youth justice and the current and future needs of young Traditional Owners of the nine member tribes of Girringun.
You can find out more about SILC and past projects undertaken by students here.
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Moral Emotions Inside
Run by collaboration members Dr Jedidiah Evans and Dr Sam Shpall, Moral Emotions Inside was a twelve-week course of philosophy and creative writing classes conducted at Dillwynia Correctional Centre in 2023. Students studied moral emotions like grief, love, and forgiveness in an intensive seminar format with lecturers from the University of Sydney, established a vibrant and respectful learning community, and applied their knowledge and experience in a self-led capstone project. Students had weekly readings, completed weekly creative writing tasks and optional philosophy homework. These tasks prompted reflection on students’ experience of the moral emotions.
Here is what two students had to say about the program:
“We felt safe in the space we were in. It has helped us to relate more to others and to realise that we were not alone in the battle we were fighting, that we are not alone in what we were feeling.”
“Beyond the lectures and discussions, we have learned how to think, to be more aware of our surroundings, how to be more considerate of others.”.
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AFR Higher Education Awards
The Justice Collaboration was recently shortlisted for an AFR Higher Education Award for our community engagement work. This is a testament to the great work by hundreds of staff and students over the last few years.
From the AFR:
The Justice Collaboration 'has students from non-traditional disciplines, including computer science, digital innovation, and media and communications, applying their skills to improve youth justice outcomes and prevent youth crime.
It has produced about 20 high-impact projects in the past five years, while exposing more than 500 students to the youth justice system to improve their understanding of its challenges.’
The AFR article profiling the other nominees can be accessed here.
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Cultural Competence in Higher Education
The National Centre for Cultural Competence at the University of Sydney is pleased to announce its upcoming conference Cultural Competence in Higher Education: Provocations, Policy, and Practice.
The conference will provide a valuable opportunity to share knowledge, experiences, and showcase innovative approaches to cultural competence across the sector.
The conference—taking place on the 27th-28th of November—will explore:
- current critical and provocative issues in theory and practice of cultural competence
- organisational policies and frameworks
- innovative approaches to the practice of cultural competence in Higher Education
You can find out more about the conference, submit an abstract or buy a ticket, here.
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