Groote Eylandt, NT
A First Nations-led justice reinvestment program on the Groote Archipelago (NT) that combines the Northern Territory's first legislated Community Justice Group, a Community Court, the Anindilyakwa Peacemaker Program and the Anindilyakwa Healing Centre, with Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation as the federally selected funding recipient.
Impact on the record
Every figure carries the source it came from and a label for what kind of figure it is, so an evaluated outcome is never confused with a projection, a background number, or a figure from a related program. Most sites here were funded in the 2024 and 2025 Commonwealth rounds, and the first evaluations under the national framework begin from late 2026. An empty panel is an honest early-stage record, not a failure.
87.51% fall (130 vs 1,041 offences)
Total offences reduction (past 12 months vs 2019)
“There were 130 offences recorded in the past 12 months compared to 1,041 in 2019; a fall of 87.51 per cent.”
View the source →28 vs 267 offences
Youth offences reduction (past year vs 2019)
“28 offences were reported in the past year compared to 267 in 2019”
View the source →95% decline (346 to 17 offences)
Youth crime reduction 2018-19 to 2021-22
“Youth crime on Groote Eylandt has plummeted 95 per cent from 346 offences recorded in 2018-19 to just 17 offences in 2021-22.”
View the source →32-bed facility for men aged 17-25
Anindilyakwa Healing Centre capacity
“Anindilyakwa Healing Centre - 32-bed facility completed March 2025; serves men aged 17-25 referred through community services and community courts”
View the source →29 Peacemakers across both moieties and all 14 clans
Registered Peacemakers (Anindilyakwa Peacemaker Program)
“29 registered Peacemakers who represent both moieties and all 14 clans”
View the source →$13 million over four years (incl. $11M operational; $1.12M Community Court and Law and Justice Group)
NT Government investment in Groote Eylandt justice initiative
“NT government investment: $13 million over four years (includes infrastructure); Operational funding: $11 million; Community Court and Law and Justice Group initial funding: $1.12 million”
View the source →$6.2 million
Commonwealth funding for the Anindilyakwa Peacemaker Program
“$6.2 million in Commonwealth funding”
View the source →The ledger in plain view
Funding on record (lead organisation)
$3,540,000
Cost of detaining one child for a year
$1,300,000
ROGS 2026 national average
Equivalent child-years of detention
3
This is funding recorded against the lead organisation, not the site-specific federal allocation, which governments publish only as national envelopes. The comparison sets what a community receives against the price of a single cell, so the question moves from whether to fund the community to why we still fund the cell.
What runs here
Groote Eylandt Justice Reinvestment
Community-led justice reinvestment in Groote Eylandt
The people
Cherelle Wurrawilya
Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC) Chair
Source →Matthew McKenzie
Leader / member of the Groote Archipelago Community Justice Group
Source →Tony Wurramarrba
Anindilyakwa Land Council Chair (as quoted at 2024 launch)
Source →Tex O'Neill
Community Justice Group (CJG) Coordinator
Source →Roderick Mamarika
Anindilyakwa community member whose discussions with the ALC anthropologist initiated the Peacemaker Program
Source →Judge Elizabeth Morris
NT Chief Judge overseeing the re-established Community Court
Source →Chansey Paech
NT Attorney-General (at 2024 launch)
Source →The arc
2020
Anindilyakwa Land Council officially launched the Community Justice Group, comprised of community Elders and respected persons supporting peacemaking and offending-reduction initiatives.
Source →2024
ARAC selected as one of nine organisations to deliver Commonwealth justice reinvestment initiatives, announced 1 February 2024 by Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney as part of a $79M / $109M First Nations justice package.
Source →2024
Landmark alternative justice process announced (3 Feb 2024): NT's first legislated community justice group and re-established Community Court on Groote Eylandt, backed by $13M NT Government investment over four years.
Source →2024
Groote Archipelago Community Justice Group program established (November 2024) as the NT's first legislated community justice group.
Source →2025
Anindilyakwa Healing Centre (32-bed residential rehabilitation for young men, operated by DASA) completed March 2025.
Source →2025
Reported 87.51% fall in total offences (130 vs 1,041 in 2019) and major youth-crime decline since the Community Court and Community Justice Group were established.
Source →In the record
National Indigenous Times · 2025-07-11
National Indigenous Times · 2024-02-03
Ministers' Media Centre (PM&C) · 2024-02-01
Paul Ramsay Foundation
National Indigenous Australians Agency
About this page
This is a public record built from sources in the open, not yet a profile the community holds. Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation is the editor of record once it claims this page. When a site claims it, the community decides what the world sees, names its own people, publishes its own figures, and shares photos of its work with consent. We can stage a page. The community publishes it.
Help complete this record