Helen and Jim presented at the above conference organised by the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Conference in Melbourne on 5 May 2010. They were ably assisted by Judge Greg Hikaka who volunteered to be part of the discussion after a serious cajoling by Jim.

The session, which highlighted the new Marae Youth Monitoring Courts provided an update of innovations in the New Zealand Youth Court, as well as first hand experiences from His Honour Judge Hikaka  and youth lawyer, Jim Boyack.

The session then, under the able charimanship of Melbourne Magistrate Greg Connellan, moved to a group discussion and comparisons were drawn from other jurisdictions including the United States which seems to be moving in the opposite direction re youth offending. It was a fun session and no one looked bored.

We were thrilled to meet up with Professor John Braithwaite who gave an amazing opening speech entitled " Non-Adversarial Justice, the Prevention of War and the Prevention of Global Financial Crises", something he manages to do before breakfast!

We also met Grant Thomas, Youth Justice Facilitator, who continues to inspire us with the work he does with aborginal communities in South Australia, Helen's second home!

The conference concluded on a positive note with kiwi Judges rushing back to start some new district court initiatives that have worked well across the ditch.

It was great to mingle with the Judges for awhile and see them enjoy themselves and imagine the Courts operating on the basis of wellness rather than dysfunction. We are full of enthusiasm as we return to Courts at Auckland where we treasure people like Michele Kidd work hard at making the Court experience a more positive one.