Justice Reinvestment: The Cost Benefits of Trusting and Supporting Indigenous People to Mediate Their Troubles

Abstract

In June 2015, economists Anne Daly and Greg Barrett and mediator Rhian Williams presented the findings of their cost-benefit analysis of the Yuendumu Mediation and Justice Committee (‘YM&JC’) operating in Yuendumu in central Australia. Their presentation to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (‘AIATSIS’) was subtitled ‘The Economic Case for Local Dispute Management Services’.1 The findings were impressive: if the YM&JC is properly funded, then for every $1 spent, there will be a benefit of $4.30 over 10 years. Greg Barrett explained the significance of these findings by making this comparison: if the World Bank receives an analysis of a cost benefit of $1.10 this is considered good; a benefit of more than four dollars is exceptional. Over 10 years if the total costs of the YM&JC are $4 359 000, then the total benefits on present value will be $18 522 000. That is a net benefit of $14 163 000 on present value.