We are New Zealand’s national provider of restorative justice for harmful sexual behaviour and sexual violence. We work with people of all backgrounds and walks of life – no matter who they are, where they live, or what the circumstances of their personal experience of harm.
We also sometimes assist with restorative approaches to sorting out what happened, when it might not yet be clear that someone is accountable for causing harm through their sexual behaviour.
Chair & Co-Founder
Dr Shirley Jülich is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work, Massey University, Albany. Shirley’s PhD investigated the complex relationship between the criminal justice system, restorative justice, and child sexual abuse from the perspective of adult survivors of child sexual abuse.
Following the completion of her PhD her research interests have continued to focus on the intersection of gendered violence, recovery, and justice, including the economic consequences this has for victim-survivors, offenders, their families and the broader society. Shirley has remained active in community practice in both the restorative justice and sexual violence sectors. She was a member of Te Oritenga, the first restorative justice provider group in New Zealand and is a founding member of Project Restore.
Treasurer
Matthew grew up in Palmerston North, but after time in Wellington and overseas, now calls Auckland home. His career has spanned the public and private sectors, and he currently works in IT for the ANZ bank. For several years he also volunteered as a Lifeline telephone Counsellor. He serves on the Board as Treasurer.
Trustee
Alison brings over 20 years’ experience in senior roles across the justice and social sectors, including at the Ministry of Justice and in the establishment of Oranga Tamariki. She currently works at Aroturuki Tamariki | the Independent Children’s Monitor, reporting on system performance to improve outcomes for tamariki, rangatahi and their whānau.
She has a strong background in restorative justice, having led work in the Ministry of Justice that developed and expanded New Zealand’s restorative justice system. At Oranga Tamariki she was on the establishment board for VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai, a new independent advocacy organisation for care-experienced young people.
Alison is committed to survivor-centred approaches, and to upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi in practice, with a focus on strengthening systems so they better support people, whānau and communities.
Trustee & Co-Founder
Kathryn is the Executive Director of HELP – support service for survivors of sexual violence in the Auckland central and north areas. She has worked in the sexual violence response sector for several decades, following clinical work in Mental Health Services and a research role at the University of Auckland.
Highlights of her work in the sector include collaborative projects such as establishment of the national organisation TOAH-NNEST, development of good practice guidelines for crisis support services which are used nationally, and currently a project with Korowai Tumanako looking at changes to consent law and restorative practice through the criminal justice system.
She was also a part of the original team which developed Project Restore’s model of practice.
Trustee
John is an investor at a venture capital firm, where he works with entrepreneurs and growing businesses to help them access capital, networks and strategic advice, including in health and community-focused sectors.
He has worked across public policy and consulting, including roles with government agencies such as the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury, and at Deloitte. He brings a range of experience across strategy, finance, governance and stakeholder engagement. John serves on the Project Restore Board as a Trustee.
Trustee
Chief Executive
Jan hails from Wellington but has called Auckland home for many years. A marketing strategist and company director with an extensive background in the communications sector, launching and sustaining some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s best-known brands.
Jan has spent the last 15 years working in leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector; managing diverse teams, growing revenue, building brands and motivating others towards achieving common goals. Governance wise, Jan has experience volunteering as a trustee on several not-for-profit Boards.
Jan has led the PR team for over 4 years and is a strong advocate for restorative justice and the power it has to make positive change by promoting healing and a way forward for Project Restore’s clients.
Clinical Consultant
TBC
Clinical Manager
Kerri’s roots are in Canada where she grew up, but in her heart she is all Kiwi. Since migrating here in 2007 she has worked extensively in the sector in both preventative and crisis forums. She headed the crisis response in Waitemata for Family Violence, Sexual Violence and Refuge for eight years, sadly overseeing more than 15,000 cases while in that role.
She has extensive experience leading teams in not only the violence sector, but also care and protection, youth residential care and is a supervisor of Social Workers. She regularly lectures at Universities on Social Practice and Violence. She has worked on the Whangaia Nga Pa Harakeke Board as a Community Representative with NZ Police and is the Chair of Unitec’s Advisory Board for Social Practice.
Kerri firmly believes in Project Restore’s 3 legged stool model as it promotes survivor driven justice while supporting people who have caused harm with tools to take true accountability and make change.
Operations Manager
TBC
Special Projects
Susan is married and she has 3 adult children and grandchildren. She believes in the importance of a well-balanced life and tries to live her life accordingly. – spiritual, mental, physical wellbeing and the importance of relationships.
A qualified counsellor and social worker, Susan has her own private practise in counselling and is a registered ACC counsellor both sensitive claims and physical injury. Her main theoretical orientation is a post-modern approach with narrative therapy, solution focused and strengths-based approaches all sitting comfortably in her practice. She strongly holds to the belief that the person is not the problem – the problem is the problem and we all have capacity to heal and live well. She loves being part of helping people to live more fulfilling and satisfying lives.
Administrative Assistant
Julia is based in Auckland. She has worked in administration previously as a Supervisor for Print & Distribution for the past 8 years. She works as an Administration Assistant at Project Restore NZ assisting PRNZ’s Clinical Manager, processing new referrals and liaising with Specialist’s & Facilitators.
Conference Transcriber
Phillipa has a background as an educator, working in NZ and internationally across both the high school and tertiary sectors, with a focus on literacy and student personal development, as well as pastoral care to support and enhance mental wellness. Phillipa lives in Christchurch where she is a homeschooling solo mum. She is passionate about wonderful ‘boring’ things like A.I ethics, data governance, privacy and online safety in this fast-developing digital world.
Senior Facilitation Specialist
Fiona grew up in Auckland and has four adult children. Her first career was as a nurse working in family planning sexuality education and sexual health clinics amongst other roles. She started doing counselling working in a drug and alcohol rehab, and as a callout advocate for family violence before moving to restorative justice. She has been providing restorative processes in a variety of settings since 1999.
As a skilled Facilitator Assessor (with the Resolution Institute) Fiona has also provided training in Restorative Justice and has extensive experience in RJ facilitation for family violence and sexual violence cases. As an entrepreneur she has been involved in many start-ups both in private businesses and in the not-for-profit space including Restorative Practices Aotearoa. Fiona is a founding member of Project Restore and is currently a senior Facilitator, endorsed for sexual and family violence cases. She has been instrumental in developing the processes Project Restore continue to use today.
Facilitation Specialist
Ari has lived and worked across Te Waipounamu and, after many adventures, is now settled in Canterbury. Ari is gender diverse and uses they/them pronouns. They share their life with a partner, teenager, and far too many animals. Outside of work, Ari enjoys competing in dog sports such as Agility, Rally-O, and Hoopers, or spending time growing fruit and vegies.
With a Batchelor in Social Services specialising in child and youth development, Ari has built a career focused on community development and systems change. They have held leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector, bringing a deep understanding and commitment to community wellbeing. Prior to joining Project Restore, Ari worked in the academic sector at the University of Canterbury, where they developed educational tools and systems change initiatives tailored for diverse communities.
Ari has also been a facilitator with Restorative Justice Ōtautahi for over eight years. Their passion lies in creating spaces where survivors are heard and empowered—particularly within a justice system that can leave them feeling minimised. Ari’s journey with Project Restore began when they attended a conference as a support person. Witnessing the team’s compassionate support of a survivor during a challenging moment confirmed for Ari that this was a kaupapa they deeply wanted to be part of.
Senior Survivor Specialist
Jennifer was born and raised in West Auckland, she has two adult children and a granddaughter that she delights in. After a number of career moves, she entered the counselling world where she gained experience working with survivors of sexual violence at HELP Auckland. In this work Jennifer was introduced to restorative justice processes and felt it could offer another opportunity for healing and recovery.
Jennifer is one of Project Restore’s founding members and was instrumental in the design and delivery of Project Restore’s model. She has been working as a survivor specialist with Project Restore since it began in 2005. She brings a unique and valuable insight into how restorative justice may meet the needs of survivors and how to best support them to have their needs met. Jennifer is a NZ Restorative Justice Sexual Offending accredited specialist.
Survivor Specialist
Disa was born and raised in Iceland. She met her kiwi husband when she was in her early 20s. Together, they travelled the world for some years – living for extended periods in Southeast Asia and in the Middle East, before finally settling with their 4 children on the North Shore of Auckland in 2017.
Disa is a registered ACC social worker and worked as a crisis social worker, refuge manager and a clinical crisis manager in the field of family and sexual harm for a number of years prior to joining the Project Restore team as a Survivor Specialist in 2024. One of the things that attracted Disa to the role of Survivor Specialist is a believe that there can be a great sense of empowerment for survivors when their voices are heard and this can allow for a sense of closure and a pathway for healing.
Survivor Specialist
Olivia was born and raised in Canada, living between the Northwestern Ontario and Ottawa regions. Her career began by studying Conflict And Human Rights at the University of Ottawa, examining how trauma from armed conflict impacts on communities. She then shifted to Social Work, with a research focus on how sexual violence impacts Survivors and their experience of the justice system. She has worked in the sexual violence sector in Ottawa, Canada; Cape Town, South Africa; and now Wellington, Aotearoa.
She moved to Aotearoa in 2019 and has lived here ever since. She resides along the coast with her dog, enjoying the ocean and many hiking trails the region offers. She started working with Project Restore in 2021 and believes passionately about the positive impact that restorative justice can have on both Survivors and their communities.
Survivor Specialist
Krissy was born in the Manawatu and has pursued a diverse educational background, including studies in cheffing, baking, midwifery, and ultimately, social work. Her career in social work spans both government and non-government sectors, with a focus on working alongside children and families to promote safety and provide community-based support. She has held roles in various locations across New Zealand, including South Auckland, Greymouth, Blenheim, and Christchurch.
Krissy’s transition into the restorative justice field was driven by a strong commitment to therapeutic approaches and a desire to support accountability among those who cause harm. Her work aims to empower individuals to take responsibility for their actions, while fostering healing for survivors and enabling them to move forward with greater freedom and confidence in their lives.
Senior Accountability Specialist
Tony Lindquist worked as a self-employed tradesman for many years before getting into social work in the 1980s. In 1984 he moved to Blenhiem as a Probation Officer which encompassed working closely with the Community to help provide positive support for offenders. It also involved working closely with “Head Office and “The Cultural Advisor Group.” After a return to Auckland in 1995, still with Corrections he moved to Te Piriti, a unit specialising in working with child sexual offenders as the reintegration co-ordinator. In 2005 Tony started working as a counsellor at the Problem Gambling Foundation after gaining a Grad Dip Counselling. Working as an Accountability Specialist, Tony works to help people that cause sexual harm to another to take responsibility for their behaviour, thereby helping restore the imbalance their actions have caused and allowing the survivor to reclaim their mana.
Accountability Specialist
Mike lives in the Canterbury area where he was born and bred. He lives with his wife and they have twin boys who now both live in Australia. Mike has a Masters’ Degree from Canterbury University based on intimacy and relationship styles and has worked in the Harmful Sexual Behaviour field for 20 years. He is currently undertaking a PhD at Canterbury in the field of Sports Psychology while working for Project Restore. Mike enjoys providing an opportunity for people that have done harm to fully understand the impacts of their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions.
Accountability Specialist
Stan Rapatini (Ngāpuhi / Kāi Tahu) is an experienced therapist, working the last twenty years in the family violence sector with adult males in group and individual work. Stan has spent over ten years as an Accountability Specialist at Project Restore and has also worked at SAFE Network (child sexual offending treatment programme) as a therapist for eight years working on the Children, Youth and Adult programmes doing individual, group, family and camp work.
Please contact us if you’re interested in joining the Project Restore team.
Alternatively send your CV to [email protected]
We are excited to have published our latest annual report. Click on the report to read about our mahi and progress.
Project Restore NZ, Auckland 1149, Newmarket, [email protected].
Last updated June 2026 C PRNZ
Our notes and anything you tell us are confidential between you and Project Restore NZ. There are, however, a few exceptions to this which we will discuss in detail if you should wish to engage with our service.
We always deal with confidential information in accordance with the statutory requirements.
If you feel dissatisfied with an aspect of the service you receive at Project Restore or feel like your rights are not being upheld, please let your Specialist or our Clinical Manager ([email protected]) know. Our complaints procedure can be requested from our Clinical Manager, where you can share your complaint confidentially via email, in a letter or over the phone.
We aim to provide the highest level of service possible, so will do our best to resolve your concerns and improve where we can.
If you need help making a complaint, there is a free advocacy service available through the Health and Disability commission: 0800 11 22 33 www.advocacy.org.nz
Two parties coming together to address the harm that has been done. It involves a meeting/hui, that we call an RJ Conference, that aim to meet the needs of all those who have been harmed and holds those who caused the harm accountable. It offers the opportunity for the person who caused the harm to understand and take responsibility for the impact their actions have had.
If a meeting/hui is not appropriate we will discuss your options for a restorative process without having to come face to face with the person who harmed you if that is your wish.
We work with both parties to prepare them for an RJ process and to ensure we fully understand what a successful outcome would look like. This will vary case by case, and with the people involved regarding their journey and preparedness to progress between assessment and preparation stage through to Conference.
Participation is voluntary all the way through the process so if either party declines or no longer wishes to participate then the process will end. If Project Restore team members decide that the process is no longer appropriate or safe, they can also slow down, pause, or halt a process.
This will depend on how soon we receive a referral and the supporting information needed so that we are able to clinically review the referral before beginning the process. We also take into consideration our team’s availability. However, we expect to begin contact within a minimum of two weeks of receiving all the referral information.
The service is free when we consider Court or Community referrals, however there may be travel costs i.e., parking or transferring between meetings which you will need to meet. These will be discussed with each party when we begin our process. We also work privately with organisations who need our help within the own resolution workflow process.
Yes, we are a nationwide service and cover all Aotearoa.
Yes, we have a team of Specialists who work with each party individually and will work with you both to coordinate a process where you can both come together for a Restorative Justice (RJ) Conference.
Possibly, once we discuss your circumstances, we can discuss what your restorative process options are.
Yes. A person who has been harmed, or an agency advocating on their behalf can make a referral for those survivors who don’t want to go through the Court system. Once a referral is made a Survivor Specialist will get in touch and help the survivor to understand their options and plan what this type of engagement would look like.
We do require both parties to be involved in a Restorative Justice process, therefore we will need to have contact details for both parties to begin to assess the case.
For young children we will work alongside the support person of the child/ren parent/caregiver as a representative of that person as required. For older children and teens, we would work with both the young person and their (parents/ whanau) with the proviso that the young person’s wishes are paramount. They must be able to have a deciding voice in this process for them to find healing. Even if they don’t wish to carry on with the RJ process, with their permission, we may still continue to help the whanau find some resolution.
Not necessarily, we will discuss your options for a restorative process without having to come face to face with the person who harmed you if that is your wish.
This ensures there is support in place for all parties involved during and following the restorative justice process. This is part of our model and the Ministry of Justice Standards. If you do not wish to have a support person involved, we are not able to proceed. This makes sure that the people within your circle or community know how to support you going forward.
No, it is not standard practice to include children in Conferences. We will work alongside the support person of the child/ren parent/caregiver as a representative of that person as required. Older children and teens may need to be involved as part of their healing journey, but this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will require more support to prevent any further trauma.
This will depend on the age of the young person, and the support services/systems involved in their care. If there is support in place and after clinical review it is deemed safe and appropriate to proceed, we will discuss what restorative processes would be available.
The judge takes into consideration expressions of remorse and survivor’s views along with all the other information gathered for sentencing. If these are evidenced in the RJ report, then the Judge can give a 10 – 15% discount much like an early guilty plea. However, the process is very challenging for the person with harmful sexual behaviour and requires them to face up to the harm they have caused and seek to make amends directly to the person they have harmed. If the person with harmful sexual behaviour does not show genuine remorse this will also be evidenced in the report, and they may end up with a longer sentence as a result. The victims’ views, impacts and how they experienced the person with harmful sexual behaviour in the meeting is also evidenced in the report. This dialogue between them is very insightful to the judge to help them make the right decision.
Our team will work with parents in all cases concerning young people to help them understand what their child might need and how to support them through the RJ process, but the process is based on the age appropriateness the survivor
Young children – often parents/caregivers stand in for a young child during a restorative justice process. Older children and teens- the RJ journey is for them, and they must have a voice in the process including who is involved and what form that support might take.