Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative

The initiative aims to examine cases where a person may have been wrongfully convicted, and assist in exonerating that person if there is evidence of a wrongful conviction.

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Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative

The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative is a joint venture between RMIT University and The Bridge of Hope Foundation that aims to investigate claims of wrongful conviction.

Find out more

Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative

The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative is a joint venture between RMIT University and The Bridge of Hope Foundation that aims to investigate claims of wrongful conviction.

Transcript

Staff, students and industry collaborate to investigate claims of wrongful conviction

This video highlights the work of RMIT student volunteers, lecturers and professionals when investigating claims of innocence. It is set in a RMIT courtroom classroom and has ambient music playing in the background throughout the duration of the video.

Duration: 2:59 mins

[Screen title]

Dr. Gregory Stratton (Lecturer, Justice and legal studies, RMIT University)

[Visuals]

Dr. Gregory and students working on case material around a table in the courtroom

So the innocence initiative is a program run by students who investigate claims of innocence. Those claims can come from people who are in prison or have been released. The program has a social justice element that allows us to assist people who otherwise don’t have access to legal help

[Screen title]

Robert Stary (Lawyer and Principal at Stary Norton Halpen)

[Visuals]

Robert Starry face to camera in office

Thereare many people from the Magistrates’ Court through to the Supreme Court who simply don’t have the resources or the funding capability to adequately defend their cases.

[Visual]

Students looking through case files

So we rely more than ever on pro bono services and the innocence project and the Bridge of Hope foundation are really two important linked organisations that really help ensure that a person does receive justice.

Dr. Gregory Stratton (Lecturer, Justice and legal studies, RMIT University)

[Visuals]

Students sitting around a table on laptops and flicking through notes while discussing cases with Dr Gregory Stratton.

Before we take on a case students review an application, they then determine the facts of the case so they work through all the materials that we get. If they feel like there is something in that case we’ll contact lawyers who work with us and then hopefully we can then work our way through to an appeal.

[Screen title]

Kimberley Hards (Student and Innocence Initiative Volunteer, RMIT University)

[Visuals]

Students looking at photo evidence on iPads, reading court documents and recreating crime scenes in front of the class

People who believe they’ve been wrongfully convicted apply to the program and we get in all of their case materials, we go through the court transcripts the photos of the crime, anything we can find to try and come to a conclusion on whether or not they actually did commit the crime.

I didn’t expect to be as involved as we get to be, we work in a secure room, and we get to recreate crime scenes, deal with real evidence and make phone calls to police officers.

[Visuals]

Robert Starry face to camera in office

Firstly we all want to see justice prevail and it provides students with an opportunity to analyse a case in a forensic way, to improve their skills, to understand how the justice system works and to look at really the disparity that happens between prosecution resources and defence resources particularly with the defunding of legal aid.

[Visuals] Two students re-enacting a crime to the rest of the class.

I decided to be a volunteer because I’m so invested in the cases and I just want to know how they end. We’ve learned a lot of critical thinking skills and how to look at things from different perspectives which I think will really help in the future.

[Visuals] Dr. Gregory Stratton face to camera in courtroom

One of the benefits of working is that students get to identify flaws in the system and the hope is that in the end they’ll be working in the system themselves and be able to change and rectify those issues in the future.

[Visuals] Students listening to a lecture in the courtroom

What’s At the front and centre of this program is to see a person achieve justice and if they’re wrongfully convicted, particularly if they’re incarcerated, when we look at the nature of incarceration now it’s not just deprivation of liberty, there’s a punishment component, there’s an alienation of the person, their prospects of reintegration are always difficult and so if someone’s wrongfully incarcerated we need to redress that as quickly as we can so the project really is fundamentally important.

[Screen title]

The innocence Initiative is a collaboration between RMIT and the not-for-profit Bridge of Hope Foundation to address miscarriages of justice and flaws in the justice system.

Back to Video

About the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative

The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative at RMIT is a joint venture between RMIT University and The Bridge of Hope Foundation.. The Initiative follows the work of others in the innocence movement who aim to both investigate claims of wrongful conviction and campaign for reform of issues that lead to these injustices.

The Bridge of Hope Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation. Established in 2001, The Bridge of Hope Foundation Inc is a registered not-for-profit, social justice charity with Deductible Gift Recipient taxation status.

The principal activities of the Bridge of Hope Foundation centre upon matters of social justice, the implementation of justice reinvestment policies and the provision of both the emotional and physical tools required to assist in turning disadvantaged lives around.

How you can participate as a student

The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative is open to undergraduate, honours and postgraduate students.

The Innocence Initiative runs across the year in semesters 1 and 2 as well as spring and summer semesters. For more information about the availability of The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative, please contact us.

You do not need to have legal skills or legal knowledge to intern with the Initiative, as training will be provided. As part of the Initiative, you will be supervised primarily by a lawyer, as well as a designated RMIT Justice and Legal Studies staff member.

Course information

Justice and Legal Studies students

As a successful Bachelor of Criminal Justice or Bachelor of Legal and Dispute Studies student, you will be able to complete your core internship course working on the Initiative. Or as a successful Master of Justice and Criminology student, you will be able to link your Justice Research Project with the Initiative.

If you have already completed your core internship course and you are successful in your application, you may be able to complete a 12 credit point Justice and Legal Studies elective WIL course attached to the Initiative.

Students from other programs

If successful in your application, you will enrol in an elective internship course. The elective course you will enrol into is either one of the following:

For postgraduate students – Professional Internship HWSS2186 (12 credit point elective)
For undergraduate students – Professional Internship HWSS2156 (12 credit point elective)

You must have permission from your program area or school to be involved with the Initiative and to enrol into this course.

Application process and selection criteria

Places are limited and determined through a competitive selection process for each intake. If your application is shortlisted, you will be required to attend an interview and obtain a successful police check. If your application is successful, you will enrol in a Justice and Legal Studies internship course in the appropriate semester.

To be eligible to apply, you should:

be an undergraduate, honours or postgraduate student at RMIT
have a GPA of 2.5 or above in your current program (exceptional cases will be considered)
have completed at least 96 credit points in your current program (not including credit for prior study or experience)
be able to travel to the Melbourne City campus to take part in key activities

Students from the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies (GUSS)

Log into InPlace using your RMIT credentials.
The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative may be open for applications in several semesters and each semester will be listed separately. Select the appropriate semester for you from the ‘Opportunities’ menu.
Click ‘Submit Application’ to open the ‘Application Submission’ window.
To upload your cover letter and resume, click ‘Upload Attachment’ to open a ‘Browse’ window. Select the file.
Click ‘Submit Application’ to submit your application.
Log out of InPlace.
Complete a Google Form.

Select the relevant form based on the semester you applied for in InPlace:

Semester 1 2022
Semester 2 2022

For assistance or further information, please lodge an enquiry with RMIT Connect In the short description you can indicate either BoHII, GUSS WIL placement or Inplace.

View the Inplace quick reference guide.

Students from schools other than Global, Urban and Social Studies

To apply, you are required to follow these steps:

Email a current resume to bohii@rmit.edu.au

Complete a Google form for the appropriate semester:

Semester 1 2022

Semester 2 2022

How you can participate as a volunteer

All volunteers will be asked to join one or more assigned case hubs. A case hub is the team working on a particular case. As a volunteer, you will be expected to participate in:

case projects i.e. specific projects related to a particular case
some case management e.g. correspondence, scanning, FOI requests, liaising with professional volunteers such as law firms and other agencies including the Victoria Police Forensic Centre
some case investigation
data entry and analysis using case management software

You will work with other volunteers, interns and tutors in each case hub, reporting to the Project Manager and Project Director.

All volunteers would normally be based at RMIT’s city campus.

These roles are unpaid. Working hours and the length of your involvement with The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative can be negotiated with the Project Director and/or Project Manager.

What is volunteering?

Volunteering is unpaid work, where you share your skills and time to help others in the community. According to Volunteers Australia, volunteering is a form of civic participation which enriches the wellbeing of the overall community and the lives of the volunteers participating.

Benefits of volunteering with us

Some of the benefits of volunteering with us include:

networking
helping to address instances of wrongful conviction
working with a diverse and collaborative environment
opportunities to learn new skills and to receive training from industry experts
opportunities to share your expertise and experiences with students and other volunteers

Apply now for a volunteer role

Complete an application form

Contact us

The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative administration
Email: bohii@rmit.edu.au

Academic contact
Dr Gregory Stratton
Michele Ruyters

Enquiries about claims of factual innocence

If you, or someone you know, claim factual innocence and wish to have the matter reinvestigated by the Innocence Initiative, you may apply by completing the application form and returning it by email or post to the address below:

Email: innocence.initiative@rmit.edu.au
Post: Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative at RMIT, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne VIC 3001
Phone: (03) 99252997