The recording of a recent occasional seminar is now available online.
In A Cost Benefit Analysis of the Yuendumu Mediation and Justice Committee - the economic case for local dispute management services, presenters Anne Daly, Greg Barrett and Rhian Williams share the success story of the Yuendumu Mediation and Justice Committee (YM&JC) and the process of performing a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) on it.
“These projects have very good returns is a bottom line story from all these calculations,” said Anne Daly.
“The thing about putting numbers on things like this is finance departments and treasuries love stuff like this; that they can look at a spreadsheet and look at numbers. You’re talking the talk that they understand and in the days that we live in, that’s quite an important selling point.”
In 2010 Yuendumu was wracked by conflict. The YM&JC is an innovative, responsive and highly effective Indigenous designed and driven initiative that has succeeded in restoring stability and harmony to the community.
“The critical thing for Indigenous communities, like every other community who experiences conflict is the ability to deal with that conflict quickly and effectively,” said Rhian Williams.
“If you have to wait your conflict will fester and it will escalate. If you have to wait your conflict will get harder and harder to deal with.
“This particular process was so important because it was local people building a local dispute resolution process in one of the most fraught community conflicts that was being experienced at the time and they turned it around.”
The YM&JC played a powerful role in breaking cycles of disadvantage, distress and suffering caused by unmanaged community conflict and is a positive and compelling example of the drive, vision and commitment of Aboriginal people in Central Australia to take control and responsibility for matters in their community and their effectiveness and skill in doing so.
View the seminar now.