While hardline responses to crime are constantly pushed by politicians and the media, other approaches – such as “therapeutic justice” models, – are often overlooked. Therapeutic justice doesn’t sound as exciting or horrifying as the gangs and true-crime stories, and it’s not reported on by the big media syndicates. But About Time isn’t a big media syndicate – it’s a paper for people in prison! And so, we write about what’s relevant for you, including different forms of justice. Recently, I had the privilege of shadowing a lawyer working at the Assessment and Referral Court (ARC) in Melbourne, a different type of court than what most of you are probably used to.

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The ARC was set up to address the underlying complex mental health and cognitive issues that lead to people breaking the law and ending up in a magistrates’ court.

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It was expanded after the 2021 final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. A referral must be made before a matter can be heard in the ARC, and an assessment by an ARC case manager is required to ensure the person meets the eligibility criteria. The court then decides if the person’s case is suitable.

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The person must be charged with a criminal offence within the catchment area of an ARC (there are nine around Victoria at present) and they must plead guilty. To participate in an ARC, a person must usually be on bail. A referral may be made to the ARC while a person is in custody if it is likely that they will be released into the community.

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The person must be diagnosed with one or more of the following: a mental illness, an intellectual disability, an acquired brain injury, an autism spectrum disorder or a neurological impairment, including but not limited to dementia.

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The diagnosis must cause a substantially reduced capacity in at least one of the areas of: self-care, self-management, social interaction and/or communication.

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The person must also be able to benefit from receiving coordinated services. Services offered may be for psychology, welfare, health, mental health, disability, drug or alcohol treatment, housing and support, or other services that aim to reduce the risk of offending or re-offending.

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A referral into the ARC can be made by the accused person, their family, community service organisations, magistrates, Victoria Police, lawyers or the Court Integrated Services Program. When a person has a matter in a mainstream magistrates’ court, they can make a referral and seek an adjournment into the ARC. This should be made at the earliest opportunity, and can occur at bail hearings or mention hearings. Contested bail hearings are heard in mainstream courts. The person must agree to the matter being heard in the ARC as participation is voluntary.

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With all of this in mind, I’ll provide an overview of what I saw at the court. The magistrate sat at the bench above us. The two lawyers stood at the table in front of him. The client was seated in the dock. A normal back and forth ensued between the people in the court. And it was all finished with an adjournment and bail extended.

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The ARC element of the court then began. The magistrate went down to the table the lawyers had been sitting at. Other people then came and sat around the table with him, including the ARC officer, the defence lawyer, the defendant and the police prosecutor.

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Each session began with the magistrate saying “Hello, my name is Magistrate [Name], what would you like me to call you?”.

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In most cases, the accused person said something along the lines of “Oh, um, my name’s Stacey Stokes, but everyone calls me Stokesy” and often the magistrate would then call them by their nickname for the whole session. This familiar approach highlighted the tone of the proceedings.

With the tone set, the magistrate would ask how the accused person was feeling today and whether they had any new police matters. Depending on where they were up to in the ARC process, the accused person would discuss other things as well. The police prosecutor would then check the system and say, “No new police matters, your Honour”, confirming what the defendant had said. In this casual setting, the accused person talked about their barriers and trauma, and everyone would listen patiently. Then they discussed the accused person’s treatment plan to help them deal with whatever mental health or cognitive issues they were dealing with.

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In each session, another defendant would get up and bear their soul to the magistrate. And each time, the magistrate would listen patiently. Big scary-looking people, thin malnourished people, heavily medicated people. All different, all with different stories.

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Some would say how hard it’s been to get on the straight and narrow, no work, no trust. Others spoke about how hard it is to kick drugs. And each time everyone just sat and listened. Including the police prosecutor.

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I asked the lawyer how comfortable they were with their client bearing their soul in front of the police prosecutor. The lawyer pointed out that that is the whole point: to get to the reason for this person’s situation and help them and not to try and trick them into confessing to new crimes.

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Participants in the ARC are eligible for up to 12 months’ support on a treatment plan. During this time they have regular reviews before the magistrate to check their progress: how they are engaging with the support services they’ve been connected with.

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At the end of the ARC program, the participant is then sentenced. The magistrate has the power to give different types of sentences depending on the offence, from sending them to prison to letting them go without a conviction. And I imagine that after successfully completing months of a treatment plan and showing real growth and improvement, having a better outcome is a real possibility.

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However, I’m not an expert, so please ask your lawyer for advice and to check if you’re eligible.

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If your state or territory has a therapeutic court system, let us know! I’d love to see how they all compare. Stay safe in there.