Mediation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
CJC has services to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people solve their disagreements. Aboriginal mediators are available to help you solve a wide range of conflicts.
Read more about CJC services in our brochures and fact sheets.
CJC can come to your group, community or organisation to talk to you about how CJC can help you. We can talk about what mediation is, CJC's services, and also conflict management and dispute resolution generally. We can develop a program and give presentations to suit your needs.
Case study
Lizzie and Sue were friends for many years. Lizzie had a relationship with Sue's brother, Paul. When the relationship between Lizzie and Paul ended, the friendship between Lizzie and Sue soured as well.
Sue's children were calling Lizzie names when they saw her because their Uncle Paul's feelings had been hurt. Lizzie and Sue argued in the street and Sue became afraid of Lizzie.
Sue went to the local court to see what she could do. The court officer told Sue about CJC as a way to clear the air between her and Lizzie and come up with some written agreements about how they would treat each other in the future.
Sue called CJC to talk about the problem. CJC staff listened and contacted Lizzie to make arrangements for a mediation.
The mediation was held at a community centre with two CJC mediators. Lizzie and Sue were able to discuss their previous friendship, the relationship breakdown of Lizzie and Paul, Sue's children and their name calling, the arguments in the street, and how they could live in the same area in the future.
Lizzie and Sue agreed that they had a good friendship before. They agreed to not yell at each other any more and that Sue's children would be told not to call Lizzie names. Sue and Lizzie agreed that what happened between Lizzie and Paul should not have affected their friendship.
Lizzie and Sue didn't think they would be as close as they once were, but agreed they now understood each other better.
Sue and Lizzie both said the process of mediation had allowed them to hear about what was happening in the other person's life and to understand they were both doing the best they could. Lizzie and Sue were both given a copy of the agreement and told they could come back to mediation if it wasn't working out the way they hoped.