Valerie Cooms from The Australian National University joins us on this episode to discuss justice reinvestment, the importance of the whole Australian community embracing First Nations languages, and progress towards a constitutionally-enshrined Voice to Parliament.

Is the allocation of $81.5 million for justice reinvestment initiatives in the recent federal budget a step in the right direction when it comes to reducing the high rates of incarceration of First Nations peoples? And why is truth-telling about Australia’s colonial history so important for reconciliation? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Director of ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research Professor Valerie Cooms joins Professor Sharon Bessell to examine the First Nations justice measures in the recent federal budget and the need for bravery from policymakers to ensure Australia achieves genuine reconciliation.

Valerie Cooms is Director and Professor of Indigenous Policy at ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research.

Sharon Bessell is Professor of Public Policy and Director of both the Children’s Policy Centre and the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.

Find full show notes on policyforum.net. Policy Forum Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can find us on Twitter at @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.