The customer is seeking researchers to progress the implementation of the Stories of change pilot research project. This project is being supported through a partnership between the First Nations Justice Office within the Department of Justice and the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office within Queensland Treasury. The research will involve hearing stories from First Nations peoples who have made sustained change towards crime free lives after having had contact with Queensland’s criminal justice system.

The project will take a strengths-based approach and give voice to the lived experiences of First Nations peoples through the use of First Nations research methodologies. The research aims to identify the specific contexts and mechanisms associated with offending desistance to support the development of interventions that aim to reduce First Nations peoples’ overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. The preliminary high-level research questions are:

• What helps First Nations people who have had contact with the criminal justice system stop offending?

• Are there gender differences and/or similarities in pathways to offending desistance?

The research project is being implemented in Townsville and has support from two local First Nations organisations. It will use yarning to collect the stories of 20 adult First Nations research participants (10 men and 10 women). We are seeking researchers with the adequate skills, knowledge and experience to undertake this work in a culturally appropriate and ethical manner, with a strong preference to engage with First Nations researchers.