Whanganui: respectful relationships at the heart of our city – a story from New Zealand

Restorative Justice in Whanganui (New Zealand, NZ) began in 1999 as a result of a public meeting called for by the presiding District Court Judge at that time, Andrew Becroft. The meeting was to talk about Youth Justice. In New Zealand at this time, young offenders appearing in Youth Court were given the opportunity to attend a Family Group Conference. Although not purely restorative, these con‐ ferences were an attempt to allow the victim the chance to discuss the impact of offence on them and for the offender to listen, understand and express remorse. New Zealand was a pioneer in establishing this process. During the public meet‐ ing, a suggestion was made to trial a similar process with adults in the District Court as was happening in a few places in New Zealand at this time. Judge Becroft offered out the challenge to the audience and asked those interested to meet to discuss and progress this idea. Two of the present Trust were part of this group. Six months later the Whanganui Restorative Justice Trust was formed. At that time it came under the umbrella of the Crime Prevention Unit of Ministry of Justice and a District Council steering group called Safer Whanganui. In the early days restorative justice was offered for low level offending but as the process became understood and trusted, more serious offences were included. The suc‐ cess of the restorative justice initiative was due in part to the initial support of Judge Becroft and key stake holders – the local Police Chief, Department of Child Youth and Family, Probation Service and Prisoners Aid. Judge Andrew Becroft later became the Patron of the Trust. Several years later the Ministry of Justice piloted restorative justice in selec‐ ted cities around New Zealand, and as a consequence of these pilots the Ministry of Justice began funding and overseeing the provider groups. In 2003 the Sen‐ tencing Act was amended to include restorative justice as an option for judges; and several years later, legislation came into force to make it mandatory for