Our Work
Law & Justice
Our Approach
Meditation and peacemaking grounded in Yolŋu Rom
Yolŋu-led, culturally grounded mediation and peacemaking, strengthening recognition of these processes within dominant (balanda) justice systems, and supporting Yolŋu to have greater control over justice outcomes in their communities
Yolŋu resources
Contact us
Case study 1
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Language Resources Balanda
Napuŋga'wuy djäma - Yolŋu-led Dispute Resolution
We provide mediation and dispute resolution services for Yolŋu adults, young people & families across Northeast Arnhem Land and Darwin.
Our dispute resolution service is Yolŋu-led at every stage and suppports existing Yolŋu dispute resolution practices. We work within Yolŋu structures of gurruṯu (kinship) and Rom (law) so that Yolŋu families and communities have greater control over peacemaking processes and justice outcomes.
We do work in all these areas:
Mediation
Family conferencing (Family Dispute Resolution)
Restorative conferencing
Peacemaking
Process & systems advocacy
Djamarrkuḻiw romgu guŋgayunawuy - Youth Justice Support
Djamarrkuḻiw romgu guŋga yunawuy means ‘how to help all kids through both laws’. Through our Youth Justice Support work we help young people in trouble with the law.
We support young people and their families in ways like:
- Diversion program support – this helps young people to stay away from the criminal justice system.
- Yolŋu-led youth restorative justice conferencing – we support this to be done in language, on familiar country, according to custom, and centred around Yolŋu worldview.
Law and Justice Groups
Law and Justice Groups are made of cultural leaders who address law and justice issues and improve community involvement in working with people who break Balanda law.
The groups focus on activities that bring the community together to find reasons why their people are breaking the law and how to address it in a culturally meaningful way.
As part of this work, ARDS has been working with the Ramingining Biṉipiliŋmirriŋ Djagagiṉiŋ Mala (BDM) Law and Justice Elders group. The BDM holds cultural authority for 18 clans living in Ramingiṉiŋ and surrounding homelands.
BDM make sure Yolŋu Rom is also used when sentencing in the Balanda legal system. A good example of this is being included in community court and working with the judge to give advice on the right punishment. Read more about BDM here.
