Savanna Solutions wins funding for Katherine justice reinvestment group

A Katherine business has been selected for a share in $79m to go towards justice reinvestment. Here’s their plan to improve community safety.

A local Katherine group have won federal funding for justice reinvestment. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Community leaders and local organisations in Katherine have welcomed a share in federal funding to deliver justice reinvestment initiatives in the region, saying local knowledge is the best way to help local kids.

The federal government this week announced it had selected consulting firm Savanna Solutions Business Services to help deliver long-term, community-led approaches to preventing crime, improving community safety and reducing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and children in custody.

As part of a $109m First Nations justice package, the federal government has committed $79m to supporting up to 30 community-led justice reinvestment initiatives in communities across Australia.

Savanna Solutions, a Katherine-based Aboriginal-owned business specialising in regional and remote engagement, will work together with youth and community support provider Jesuit Social Services and Flinders University.

The consortium will implement a plan developed by the Katherine Justice Reinvestment Group, a group of community leaders and social services who have been advocating for funding and compiling local data for nearly a decade.

One of the founding members of K Town Justice Group said the funding would help the town ‘plan its way out of this crisis’. picture: Che Chorley

One of the founding members, Christine Butler, said the funding was a way to “plan our way out of this crisis”.

“Our community is best placed to know what will work for Katherine,” she said.

“More importantly – no one cares about our kids and our community more than we do. This is how we tap into that.”

The proposal to be delivered over two years will establish a community governance group to provide cultural guidance and oversight.

Two immediate circuit breakers included in the plan will be a “point to point” initiative aimed at building relationships, and a training co-ordination and mentorship program to help create alternative education pathways.

The K Town Justice Group, as it’s also known, seeks to reallocate resources towards community programs and initiatives tackling root causes of crime, while promoting community leadership, cultural knowledge and social inclusion.

Local Indigenous man Trevor Satour said improving crime and incarceration rates would take time.

“But we must play a long game and take a long-term perspective,” he said.

“We will only achieve if we can harness a collective effort working for the public good.”

Savanna Solutions becomes the fourth NT initiative supported under the scheme, joining Nja-marleya Cultural Leaders and Justice Group in Maningrida, Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation on Groote, and a consortium of Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation, Desert Knowledge Australia and Anglicare NT in Alice Springs.