Rights & Law
Family Group Conferences in Youth Restorative Justice
When a child or young person in New Zealand is accused of an offence, family group conferencesare a legally defined, mandatory meeting where the young person, family, victim, and justice professionals develop a plan to repair harm and support the child's future.
What this piece covers
- A Statutory Room: Where Family Group Conferences Come From
- Who Is in the Room, and How a Conference Starts
- The Sequence: Preparation, Information, Family Time, Plan
- What an Agreement Contains, and What Makes It Binding
- Restorative Justice Inside Youth Justice: Power and Limits
- Beyond New Zealand: Variations in Practice
A Statutory Room: Where Family Group Conferences Come From
Introduced by New Zealand's landmark 1989 Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act, family group conferences in youth justice are not informal talks or diversionary sessions, but statutory decision-making processeswith defined legal functions. Under the 1989 Act (now the Oranga Tamariki Act), an FGC can be convened to:
- recommend whether the young person should be prosecuted or dealt with in another way
- make a determination about where a child or young person should live
- decide whether to continue court proceedings
- determine whether the charge is admitted
- hold responsibility: this can mean a police officer or a social worker with a delegated function
These are formal statutory functions, not just restorative circles, and FGCs exist both as a pre-adjudication diversionary technique and at a post-adjudication pre-sentencing stage within the wider justice system.
Who Is in the Room, and How a Conference Starts
A youth justice FGC brings together the child or young person, their family/whānau, the victim of the offence and their supporters, the police if necessary, and a youth justice coordinator or social worker. The coordinator convenes the conference, lays out their role in gathering all relevant information and facilitating the discussion.
The conference typically begins with the young person taking responsibility for their actions, owning up to what they did. The facilitator may then invite the victim to share [anything they would like to add], to emotionally vent [content or perspective], and to outline what they want to have happen.
With the offence acknowledged, the conference moves to exploring the underlying reasons behind the young person’s actions and the impact on all parties, setting the stage for an inclusive discussion.
The Sequence: Preparation, Information, Family Time, Plan
Once all parties have had the opportunity to voice their perspectives and the offence itself has been acknowledged and agreed upon, the conference enters a more structured process. This typically follows these stages:
-
Preparation: the facilitator receives recommendations from professionals on the case, considers factors to gauge the appropriateness of FGC, and plans the logistics, including deciding which supporters relating to the victim and whānau of the person should attend
-
Information exchange: the facilitator shares relevant information and invites each party to speak, encouraging the young person, victim and family to ask questions and voice their concerns
-
Private family time: the youth, their family, and supporters retreat for an extended period to privately discuss in-depth what happened, doing their homework together, to develop a Plan for Change that the young person is prepared to undertake
-
Plan presentation: the family brings the proposed Plan for Change back to the full conference. This outlines the actions the young person agrees to take to make amends and the supports they will need. The plan must be endorsed by all parties.
-
Plan implementation and evaluation: if all agree, the Plan for Change is signed as a legally binding agreement, with the facilitator recording details of who is responsible for each part of the Plan. Throughout the implementation period, the young person receives regular check-ins on their progress.
There is international variation on this core process. For example, UK youth justice guidance describes a similar four-stage model, including a private family discussion, but begins with a victim-offender dialogue.
What an Agreement Contains, and What Makes It Binding
A Plan for Changein a youth justice FGC includes a range of restorative actions and supports:
-
Direct reparation: the young person's plan to repair the harm can include apologising to the victim, undertaking community serviceor unpaid work, paying compensation to the victim, or making amends by returning or repairing property.
-
Family supports: a plan should address any underlying issues, such as family problems, lack of positive structure, or need for counselling. This might include anger management, alcohol and drugtreatment, or counselling/treatment to help the young person make amends to the victim.
-
Education and future planning: the plan might set clear expectations around the young person's commitment to attending school, getting qualifications, or securing employment or training.
- Mentoring and recreational activitiesmight be recommended to improve the young person’s motivation to get their life back on track.
To ensure oversight, the plan must include a responsible person (or organisation)to hold the young person accountable and ensure the plan is completed. While individual agreements are privileged, the facilitator must record restorative actions as part of the youth justice process.
Restorative Justice Inside Youth Justice: Power and Limits
While a family group conference is an inclusive, restorative process, it exists within the constraints of a formal youth justice system. The 1989 Act sets out that a youth justice coordinator must consider restorative justice actions at every FGC.
However, an FGC is not a parallel justice system. It may be convened as an Intention to Charge Conference, where a charging decision is required. The conference must report clear decisions to police on charges, custody arrangements, and whether court proceedings should continue. These are mandated by legislation, not discretionary decisions.
Even though the facilitator guides the discussion, the conference's decisions are legally binding. Where the victim or family are unwilling or unable to participate, the FGC may still conclude. The FGC’s privilege doesn’t make it a transparent process where victim and community members have final say over youth justice decisions.
Beyond New Zealand: Variations in Practice
The family group conference model has spread internationally, but variations exist. In the UK, the Youth Inclusion and Support Panel model follows a similar four-stage process, but the family discussion happens after professionals have shared their input.
In one Australian model, a youth justice conference may require the young person to enter into a compensation agreement but places more legal weight on that agreement. The conference facilitator may shape these differences in practice through their professional discretion, but the core elements—acknowledging the offence, sharing impact, and agreeing a plan—remain consistent.
For its New Zealand practitioners, the family group conference model represents a more formal restorative process than a simple meeting, but one that cannot fully stand apart from the limitations and powers associated with a formal youth justice system.