Nunga Court

by Chris Charles

(Abstract)
Nunga Court commenced in South Australia in the mid 1990s at the Port Adelaide Magistrate’s Court. It was started by a Magistrate, Mr Chris Vass SM. He recognised that the existing criminal court process was a revolving door and that the unacceptably high rates of Aboriginal court appearances and imprisonment was related to the existing court and corrections processes which are unsuitable for Aboriginal people.

The particular disadvantage of Aboriginal defendants in the criminal justice system and their gross over representation, as a racial group in that system have been heavily documented1, as has the alarmingly high rate of Aboriginal Deaths in Custody after the Royal Commission.