Where we are up to
The Court Integrated Services Program (CISP) is a pre-sentence program which can provide pre-sentence support to accused either through community referrals or case management. There are approximately 70 CISP Case Managers currently employed at Magistrates’ Court Victoria (MCV) across 20 locations. They can and do assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants.
MCV has experienced ongoing difficulty in recruiting for Koori CISP worker positions. One reason we know involves the need for the role to have certain qualifications. MCV has conducted an audit of the roles, the position descriptions, the environment where the positions sat, and what the barriers have been to recruitment and retention. This was viewed in the context of the Bail and Remand Court (BaRC) and our Navigation and Triage Pilot program.
We are rethinking the positions. One immediate action has been the creation of Koori Support Officer role at Melbourne Magistrates' Court (MMC) with a focus on custodies and cultural support for Koori people on CISP. This recruitment is in the final stage.