Community Justice Centre

What is the Community Justice Centre?

The Community Justice Centre (CJC) has been established by the Northern Territory Government to provide mediation services to the community to help people resolve their own disputes without legal action. Our service is free, confidential, voluntary, timely, and easy to use.

Mediation is a way of helping people settle a dispute without having to go to Court and commonly used in the following types of disputes:

neighbourhood nuisance (noise, trees, fences, pets, drainage)
between members of a club, committee or incorporated Associations
antisocial behaviour and visitors

This means savings in time, legal fees and court costs for you and the whole community. It also frees the Court system to concentrate on problems that require determination by an outside party.

Why choose Mediation?

Mediation is about people coming together to discuss the issues in dispute. It allows all people in dispute to have a say in the outcome and come up with their own solutions to the problem. It provides a way of settling a dispute without legal action, which can be time consuming, and expensive.

The CJC offers a safe an informal environment where people can sort out their disputes with the help of trained mediators.

Mediation sessions at the CJC are held by one or two trained and impartial mediators who will help you:

Identify the issues
Think of ways to solve the issues
Think about other options
Work together to reach an agreement.

The mediators guide how the mediation session is run. The people in the dispute decide what is discussed and what is agreed upon.

Mediators are impartial and do not take sides or give legal advice.

Over 85% of mediations result in an agreement being reached. In most cases mediations can be arranged quickly and take approximately 2-4 hours.

What disputes are suitable for mediation?

The CJC can assist you with a wide range of disputes including:

Local community/neighbourhood disputes over such things as a fence, noise, pets, trees, property damage and people's behaviour
Clubs and organisations whose members are in conflict
Relationships between family members
Small claims/civil claims
Victim Offender Conferencing
Many other types of disputes
Barking Dog (video)
My Baby (video)

How to arrange mediation

You can telephone our Freecall number, write, e-mail or visit us in person.

Free Interpreter services are available.

When you phone the CJC our experienced staff will:

Talk with you about the problem and discuss ways you can resolve it yourself
Provide information and/or referral
Assess if your dispute is suitable for mediation and if so, ask for brief information about you, your concerns and the other person/s involved; and
With your permission, we will contact the other person/s to arrange mediation at a time convenient to both of you.

Mediations can be arranged during the day, evening or weekends.

Mediations are held at the Community Justice Centre in Darwin or at suitable local venues across the Territory.

Telephone conferences can also be arranged.