Murri Courts were established after the former
Chief Magistrate of Queensland,
Di Fingleton, became aware of the
Nunga Court, which had been established in
South Australia in 1999 with the aim of reducing the
over-representation of Indigenous people in prison and other Indigenous justice issues by involving the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in the sentencing of Indigenous offenders. She asked Deputy Chief Magistrate Brian Hine to view and report back on the system in operation, with a view to developing something similar in Queensland. Hine did this, afterwards meeting with members of the local Indigenous community members and of relevant agencies to discuss the concept of a Murri Court in
Brisbane. The GUMURRII Centre at
Griffith University was a key player in the establishment of Murri Courts. The first Murri Court was established in August 2002 in
Brisbane, with further courts rolled out in
Rockhampton,
Mount Isa, a youth Murri court in Brisbane,
Caboolture and
Townsville. Most also catered for children (
young offenders). The north Queensland Murri Courts were also open to
Pacific Islander offenders. These special courts, modelled on the
Nunga Court in
South Australia and
Koori Court in
Victoria, As of 2006, Indigenous communities were also involved as advisers to the
Children's or Magistrates Courts in
Toowoomba,
Woorabinda,
Mackay,
Tully,
Mareeba,
Innisfail,
Mossman,
Doomadgee,
Normanton,
Mornington Island, some
Cape York communities, and
Badu Island in the
Torres Strait. in April 2016. ==Operation==