Client
Goolum Goolum, Yallum Yallum Restorative Justice model
Horsham, Victoria | 2023, ongoing
Key Services
Theory of change | Outcomes framework | Evaluation | Embedding impact (process and systems)
In early 2024 Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative engaged Think Impact to support the development of an evaluation approach for their unique Yallum Yallum restorative justice model being piloted in regional Victoria.
Yallum Yallum (Wergaia for ‘Many Ponds’) is a culturally led justice model, offering an alternative for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in contact with the justice system. The model was shaped through extensive community engagement and draws on a wide breadth of evidence into justice diversion models, behaviour change programs and Cultural approaches to restorative justice and healing.
Yallum Yallum is a tougher approach to justice, requiring active remorse and undertaking agreed actions (e.g. mental health counselling) that must be accepted by the offending person’s community, identified harmed parties and a council of Elders and Respected People
Yallum Yallum focuses on breaking cycles of disadvantage and restoring justice through healing by:
The Yallum Yallum justice model was developed and is managed by Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation based in Horsham and providing a range of health, support and cultural engagement services to the community of regional western Victoria.
Once referred and accepted into the program, each participant attends a series of conferences with their assigned Elders and Respected People Council where a tailored agreement of actions is determined, and their progress monitored. If a participant successfully completes their agreement action plan, there are no disclosable offences on the participant’s criminal record.
Yallum Yallum was developed in response to the long-established knowledge that alternative approaches to punitive justice models are needed if we wish to address the ongoing impacts of colonisation that has led to cultural dislocation, systemic racism and drives indigenous overrepresentation in incarceration rates.
Indigenous Australians are the most incarcerated people on planet Earth.[1] The Australian criminal justice system is much more likely to incarcerate First Nations people than other members of the population. In Victoria in 2023, 812 First Nations people were incarcerated, representing 12.6% of the prison population[2] despite representing only 1% of the total population of the state[3]. Nationally, 13,852 First Nations people were incarcerated in 2023, representing 33% of the prison population despite representing only 3.8% of the Australian population.[4]
Yallum Yallum recognises people benefit from a fairer justice that creates an opportunity to heal from trauma, rather than be punished for crime. It is based on a simple and evidence-based understanding that most people are inherently good, most crime is driven by trauma, (recent or past) and few lives are transformed by systemically enforced punishment.
Think Impact’s work commenced with desktop research into alternative cultural approaches to justice models from across Australia and internationally. The review along with a series of interviews with stakeholders from law enforcement, magistrates, senior justice department staff and community all helped identify the unique elements of the Yallum Yallum model. These insights and diverse perspectives shaped the development of the Yallum Yallum justice model’s theory of change and longer-form impact narrative.
This shift in power being generated by Yallum Yallum does not happen without organisations such as Think Impact recognising the important social need, and actively contributing through desperately required assistance like in-kind support. Mick Fowler, Yallum Yallum Coordinator
The theory of change seeks to distil the highly complex problem of indigenous overrepresentation in incarceration rates and visually present this alongside a simple yet powerful depiction of the Yallum Yallum response and the change it creates.
Figure 1: Yallum Yallum theory of change
A longer-form impact narrative was also developed to provide a richer summary of the Yallum Yallum justice model, how it works to address the problems and the results (key outcomes) where participation in the program enables change to occur for the individual, with community and Culture, identified harmed parties and for the Elders and Respected People Council.
Figure 2: Yallum Yallum impact narrative
Developing the theory of change provided the clarity to understand that outcomes occur within four dimensions where the model aims for healing to take place:
Drawing on deep-dive stakeholder interviews with Goolum Goolum staff and yarns with the Elders and Respected People Council, Think Impact developed an outcomes mapping tool. The tool considers the importance of documenting a detailed story of how a person’s life trajectory changes as a result of engaging with the Yallum Yallum justice model.
The outcomes mapping tool was designed to support the Elders and Respected People Council to deliberate and document the degrees of change they observe and hear occurring for the participant in relation to Self and Community and Culture and the outcomes they witness occurring for Identified Harmed Parties, and for themselves as Elders and Respected People Council members.
The Elders and Respected People Council integrate questions aligned with the outcomes mapping tool into their conversations with participants during conferences to inform their reflections, as well as establishing opportunities to talk with the offended parties and community representatives.
Figure 3: Yallum Yallum outcomes mapping tool cover page sample
The outcomes mapping tool is completed by the Elders and Respected People Council at the conclusion of each conference with a participant. The Council work together to discuss and agree on where they feel the level of change is occurring with respect to each of the outcomes within the four domains. The segments closest to the centre represent early levels of change and the larger outer segments represent more significant levels of change. The 4-point scale used for capturing the developing levels of change for each outcome are:
The visual nature of the tool provides a simple, yet effective real-time way to see any significant changes that have occurred since completing previous mapping tools. It also provides an evidence base to understand where things are progressing well and where there may need to be more focus to ensure positive change is able to occur.
The mapping tool complements other self-reported outcome measures integrated into the model's intake and conferencing data collection tools, including the use of the Cultural Resilience Sub Scale questions.
Since Yallum Yallum commenced in mid-2024, nine individuals have been referred to participate, with two participants being deemed eligible. Through ongoing work with stakeholders, referral pathways and eligibility opportunities are expanding rapidly. This includes the development of a pre-charge pathway with Victoria Police following Chief Commissioner Shane Patton’s endorsement of the justice model. Rodney, the first participant to complete the program has demonstrated the immersive restorative power that a multi-dimensional healing approach to justice can have in transforming a young man’s life trajectory. Read Rodney's story here.
[The ERP] had a lot of good ideas, ways for me to go in, and led me on the right path. Rodney, Yallum Yallum participant
Although still in its early stages, the model’s unique and early results demonstrate its enormous power to heal, sparking great interest across the justice system to explore expanding the pilot to other regional areas. In 2025 we will see Yallum Yallum expand to Ballarat through the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative. This will allow for access to the model across the greater Grampians region. Multiple other Communities have expressed interest in utilising the model. As pathways for inclusion in the Yallum Yallum justice model continue to expand and rollout to new locations, we look forward to sharing the results of the Yallum Yallum evaluation.
The value you and your team has brought to the project is massively appreciated. Your contributions were included within our Justice Reinvestment application and look to allow for the expansion of Yallum Yallum into two larger communities. Mick Fowler, Yallum Yallum Coordinator
For any enquiries about Think Impact’s work with the Yallum Yallum justice model, please contact Alischa Ross, Associate Director, email alischa@thinkimpact.com.au or phone 0413 351 488.
For any enquiries about the program, please contact Mick Fowler, Yallum Yallum Coordinator, email michael.fowler@goolumgoolum.org.au
or phone 0400 627 487.
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