Murdoch University Honours Scholarship winner Jeff Allen

REFORMED ‘career criminal’ and Murdoch University Honours Scholarship winner Jeff Allen, of Port Kennedy, believes restorative justice could not only keep many offenders out of prison, but also prevent them re-offending.

The Murdoch Sociology Honours student earned nine straight High Distinctions in his undergraduate degree last year and recently received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence.

He is currently using his $5000 scholarship to study restorative justice - the system whereby the perpetrator of a crime is introduced to the victim to discuss the circumstances of the crime face-to-face.

It is a practice widely used in the New Zealand and Canadian justice systems, and to a limited extent in WA.

“I wanted to find a better way of dealing with those convicted of ‘minor’ crimes such as shop-stealing, burglary and minor assault,” said Mr Allen.

“If we want to redress recidivism and crime rates, and to relieve prison overcrowding and lengthy court waiting lists, we have to think of alternatives.

“Hefty fines don’t work. Most offenders can’t pay and still end up in prison.”

As a member of the board of the Restorative Justice Network of WA (RJNWA) Jeff is in an excellent position to put his research findings into practice.

“We expect RJNWA to be the main service provider for court diversion,” said Mr Allen.

“Effectively, this means that instead of going to court, an offender visits the Restorative Justice Network to meet with a facilitator such as myself.

“If they are genuinely sorry for what they have done - and wish to make amends to the victim of their crime - I then approach the victim to ensure they are comfortable with the situation.

“When both parties are in agreement, a meeting is held with a specially-trained facilitator at a neutral venue.”

He said everything was done on an equal basis with the only rule being no ‘aggro’.

“They sort it out themselves and, when an agreement is finally reached, a Mutually Agreed Plan (MAP) is drawn up and submitted to the court for approval.”

He said, if everything went according to plan, it was a win-win situation.

The offender avoided a criminal conviction, the victim got to be heard and in many cases, also received compensation from the offender.

Mr Allen, who is a student ambassador for Murdoch University’s Office of Student Services at the Rockingham Campus, also works as a service provider at PASS (Prisoner’s Advice and Support Service) at Karnet Prison, and runs his own Martial Arts academy.