A Restorative City for New South Wales: Could Newcastle Be a Model?

Posted: 23 Aug 2017

See all articles by John Anderson

John Anderson

University of Newcastle (Australia) - Newcastle Law School

Nicola M. Ross

Newcastle Law School

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 19, 2017

Abstract

The city of Newcastle in New South Wales has faced significant challenges in the last two decades due to the erosion of traditional industry and employment opportunities. It is undergoing much needed urban renewal in the city’s CBD, but this needs to be accompanied by developing strategies for social, cultural and economic renewal to address forms of harm and pockets of disadvantage. Some residents, including young families, continue to be disadvantaged by a lack of suitable employment opportunities, and education, housing, child welfare, and criminal justice systems that do not adequately address harms and hardships, which have the potential to exclude them from opportunities open to others. Social, cultural and economic renewal could be furthered by Newcastle becoming a restorative city. A handful of restorative cities around the globe – Hull and Leeds in the UK, Oakland in the USA, Whanganui in New Zealand and Canberra – are on the path to successfully implementing strategies to promote community renewal. Restorative cities implement interdisciplinary restorative practices and restorative justice measures across a range of systems including education, justice, welfare, child protection and health to achieve positive results for residents, particularly the most vulnerable members of the community, such as children and youth. Ultimately, these cities are working towards, and achieving, a transformational change in culture and the social fabric of their cities by using mediations, conferences and relationship-building exercises to encourage the resolution of disputes and disagreements through productive communication, to address inappropriate behaviour, and to promote community wellbeing in a caring and inclusive culture. This paper considers the evidence for restorative practice and provides vignettes of the existing models and experiences of restorative cities around the world. We assert that with the right support and careful planning, we can take the lessons learned from existing restorative cities, to enhance Newcastle’s potential as an inclusive and thriving urban city.

Suggested Citation

Anderson, John and Ross, Nicola M., A Restorative City for New South Wales: Could Newcastle Be a Model? (August 19, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3022557

John Anderson (Contact Author)

University of Newcastle (Australia) - Newcastle Law School ( email )

Level 5
409 Hunter Street
Newcastle, New South Wales 2300
Australia
+61 2 49217099 (Phone)
+61 2 49218866 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/john-anderson

Nicola M. Ross

Newcastle Law School ( email )

New Space
Level 5 409 Hunter St Newcastle NSW 2300
Newcastle, New South Wales 2300
Australia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
468
PlumX Metrics