Jane Anderson

Jane Anderson is a social anthropologist and Adjunct Research Fellow.

Since 2014, she has been a scholar-practitioner of restorative rehabilitation programming in the prison system. She has a special interest in the restorative rehabilitation of Indigenous inmates.

Jane has undertaken research on peer workers working with problematic drug users and their families. These service users commonly have complex histories, including homelessness and prison experience.

Her earlier research focused on key issues in the Roman Catholic Church, including gender and sexuality, parish conflict and clergy sex offending. In 2010 she was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship to examine the relationship between State and Church from the viewpoint of a progressive religious movement.

Jane frequently links her scholarly work with community work. This has been acknowledged in her being a nominee for the Bunbury Australia Day Citizen of the Year (2019). The community support service (Doors Wide Open), which she Chaired, was a joint winner of the Bunbury Australia Day Community Group of the Year (2019).

Given that we live in uncertain ane changing times, Jane recognises the importance of undertaking research directed to understanding and developing innovative practices for the benefit of marginal populations. 

She has a particular interest in researching the evolution of restorative practices and peer navigation. 

She is currently self-funded.

Jane was a farmer for 11 years.

Later, while completing her Ph.D, she was a Director of Catholic Missions. The work fostered her interest in social justice and the common good.

Jane is a qualified Spiritual Director.

Jane is currently working on the Bidi Warkoolin (moving right way forward) restorative peer initiative. The initiative seeks to reduce Aboriginal/Noongar people's contact with the criminal justice system in the South West of WA. The first phase of introducing concepts of Aboriginal justice, restorative justice and peer work to Aboriginal/Noongar people with lived experience of the system has been completed.  In a series of structured yarning circles, Aboriginal/Noongar facilitators and select Aboriginal/Noongar peoples committed themselves to exploring how they might be involved in the administration of justice. An internal report on the event has been produced.

The second phase of developing an establishment plan for the Bidi Warkoolin service is underway.

Jane continues to work with Aboriginal facilitators to deliver the Aboriginal restorative rehabilitation program, Journey Ways, in the local prison. Her intention is to reinstate the Anglo-Australian restorative justice program, Restor-y Life (Restore) in the prison in early 2024.

Jane recently presented at the 6th Symposium Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, Perth, 7-8 September 2023. Titled "Healing Restoratively", her address considered the question of "how is justice to be served in the case of sexual violence?"

Given the increasing economic and social pressures on the criminal justice system, Jane's work is relevant, informed and practical.

Anderson, J. (forthcoming). Restorative justice in Western Australia: a critical examination of institutional and bureaucratic constraints. International Encyclopaedia of Restorative Justice.

Anderson, J. 2024. Exploring exemplarity in in-prison restorative rehabilitation to recover normativity. The International Journal of Restorative Justice, 7(1), pp. 65-87. doi: 10.5553/TIJRJ.000159

Anderson, J. 2023. Scoping the potential of a Noongar re-entry peer navigator model. The Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 4(2). doi: 10.14221/aihjournal.v4n2.3 https://ro.ecu.edu.au/aihjournal/vol4/iss2/3/

Anderson, J. 2022. The case for using culturally relevant values in restorative justice programming for Australian Aboriginal participants. The International Journal of Restorative Justice, 5(2), 192-214. doi: 10.5553/TIJRJ.000118

Anderson, J. 2021. Peer support workers' conceptions of drug users and the implications for service provision. Anthropology and Medicine, 3.

Anderson, J. 2020. An Australian Aboriginal in-prison restorative justice process: a worldview explanation, The International Journal of Restorative Justice, 3(3), 374-394.

Anderson, J. 2018. Introducing and theorising an in-prison restorative justice programme: the second-generation Sycamore Tree Project, The International Journal of Restorative Justice, 1(2), 210-229.

Anderson, J. 2016. Inovative Catholicism and the Human Condition, New York: Routledge. (Routledge Studies in Religion). Nb: this text is being made available in Open Access in late September, 2021.

Anderson, J. 2016. Socialization processes and clergy offenders, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 25(8), 846-865.

Anderson, J. 2015. Comprehending and rehabilitating Roman Catholic clergy offenders of child sexual abuse, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 2(7), 772-795.

Anderson, J. 2015. Innovations in communications technology and the restructuring of the Roman Catholic Church, Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 28(3), 255-273.

Anderson, J. 2015. Retorative justice as redress for child sexual abuse, New Community, 13(2), 18-22.

Anderson, J. 2012. Competing identities: Uniformity versus diversity in the Roman Catholic priesthood, The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality (pp. 93-106), S.J. Hunt & A.K.T. Yip (eds.). UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited.

Anderson, 2012. Souled out: Power and protest in a Catholic parish. Australia: D Publishing.

Anderson, J. 2008. Romarong: A philanthropist's guide to misery, corruption and beyond in Sierra Leone. Australia: D Publishing.

Anderson, J. 2008. The contest of moralities: Negotiating compulsory celibacy and sexual intimacy in the Roman Catholic Priesthood, The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 18(1), 1-17.

Anderson, J. 2005. Deacons: Band-Aid or bounty? The Australasian Catholic Record, 82(2), 178-188.

Anderson, J. 2005. Priests in love: Roman Catholic clergy and their intimate friendships. New York: Continuum.