Women And Aboriginal Sentencing Courts: Having A Cup Of Tea Between Times

Aboriginal sentencing courts are now a part of the legal landscape all over Australia. The Victorian Koori Court legislation provided for one respected elder to sit with the magistrate. The inaugural court at Shepparton provided for a senior woman and a senior man to sit with the magistrate. This template was followed in every subsequent Koori Court sitting across the state of Victoria and later in WA ensuring cultural respect for women as well as men, and embracing the role Aboriginal women have always assumed as keepers and cultivators of the community's social depth and cultural storylines. Beyond that, it ensured women who came before the Koori Court could have their matters dealt with by women as well as men. This paper examines how these courts provided places of authoritative comfort for women who accepted the responsibility of becoming 'women who judged', and references to hearings where women changed the outcome because of their knowledge and the court's preparedness to incorporate this in both closely occupied and remote settings and contexts.