Discovering Balance - Home
The Institute for Restorative Justice and Penal Reform together with the Centre for Social & Community Research at Murdoch University is organising and hosting 'Discovering Balance...', an international conference to explore issues relating to penal reform, restorative justice and human rights. The conference will include presentations, discussions, and workshops covering a wide range of topics and issues including the impact of imprisonment on individuals and communities, restorative justice processes as an alternative to adversarial approaches, and the concept of restorative prisons.
Registration
The deadline for early bird conference registration has now passed, however, you can still register for the conference at very reasonable rates. Check the Registration page for more information.
Reception & Dinner
We encourage all delegates and their partners to come to our catered welcome reception on Wednesday 1 October and our conference dinner on Friday 3 October.
The reception is free of charge (although, for catering purposes, we do need to know if you're attending), and will be hosted by the Attorney General in Parliament House. The dinner will be held in the historic Fremantle town hall - purchase tickets when you register for the conference.
Both events will provide great opportunities to meet and mingle with conference delegates, our invited speakers, and other guests, so we hope to see you there!
Complete the relevant fields on the Registration form to let us know if you'll be at the reception, and to purchase tickets to the conference dinner.
Key Themes and Plenary Sessions
- Prisoner rehabilitation
- Victims' rights and restorative processes
- Human rights in custodial settings
- Indigenous Australians and the criminal justice system
- Restorative prisons
- Restorative justice processes and juveniles
- Promoting restorative processes and human rights in a punitive society
- Prison reform, the media and the public
Invited Speakers
- Professor David Brown: Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- Professor Andrew Coyle: International Centre for Prison Studies, Kings College, London
- Professor Richard Harding: Inspector of Custodial Services in Western Australia
- Steven Heath: Chief Magistrate, Western Australia
- Ian Johnson: Commissioner, Department of Corrective Services, Western Australia
- Professor John Pratt: Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
- Hon. Margaret Quirk: Minister for Corrective Services; Small Business; Member for Girrawheen
- Baroness Vivien Stern: International Centre for Prison Studies, Kings College, London
- Professor Hilde Tubex: Department of Corrective Services
Conference Registration
The organising committee encourages attendance and participation from a wide range of delegates including activists, researchers, academics, interested individuals, community organisations, and students. There are three main levels of registration :
- Full - for delegates working in the private sector, or for government or tertiary institutions
- NGO - for delegates employed by community or non-government organisations
- Unwaged - for student and unwaged delegates
| Earlybird | Late | ||
| Full | AU$400.00 | AU$450.00 | |
| NGO | AU$300.00 | AU$350.00 | |
| Unwaged | AU$150.00 | AU$150.00 |
The deadline for earlybird registration is 1 September (Full and NGO rates increase after this date).
Day registration is also available if you cannot attend the whole conference. The day rate is the same for all delegates :
- Day registration - AU$150.00 (day registration same for all delegates)
Rates have been kept as low as possible to encourage maximum attendance. We will not audit the affiliations of individual delegates, however, we ask all delegates to select a rate appropriate to their circumstance when registering. Check the Registration page for more information.
Check this web site for updates about the conference including details about presentation format, key dates, and abstract submission and registration procedures.