Sycamore Tree on 96.5fm Talking Life
Peter Janetzki interviews Martin Howard and two crime survivors from the Sycamore Tree Project. Download Podcast
The recent STP pilot has been featured in the Courier Mail Saturday Magazine.
Download Article from Courier Mail Magazine PDF
“A year later, as the van turns onto the Bruce Highway ferrying Queensland’s first group of Sycamore Tree Project volunteers to Woodford, Howard has every reason to smile.
“The project is about restorative justice,” he says. “Instead of the alternative idea which is retributive justice – a crime happens, we find the perpetrator, punish them by putting them in jail and that’s the end of the process.
“That process ignores the fact the crime has a lot of impacts across the community,” Howard says. “It starts with the immediate people involved in the crime. It affects the victim. It affects the victim’s family. It affects the offender. It affects their families and on it goes. Instead of one thing that one person did wrong we look at all of those elements. What impact has it had on the victim’s life? Have there been medical repercussions? Are there practical financial repercussions? How does it affect their relationships?”
It’s a faith-based project, but it’s not preachy. It’s about sharing stories. It’s about empathy. Putting oneself in another’s shoes.”
