Justice and community services run on conversations that go wrong quietly.

A young person who will not look up. A disclosure nobody was ready for. A doorstep that has to be recovered in the first thirty seconds.

These are high-consequence conversations that are difficult to rehearse safely, because the only practice available is usually on a real person having a bad day.

Key takeaway

A justice scenario should let practitioners rehearse a difficult exchange without putting a person seeking help under pressure. PTR would build it with the people who know that setting.

Inside the simulation: two young men in mixed-reality headsets face each other on a suburban street, a choice panel floating between them, one leaning in, the other hanging back.

The standard for a justice build

PTR would shape justice and community services practice around intake, mediation and disclosure, with practitioners and people with lived experience defining the boundaries. The Central Coast Council disability-awareness project provides an adjacent example of co-design. A justice build would need its own scenarios, review and facilitated debrief.

"For instance, our simulations allow users to experience what it feels like to be discriminated against, to navigate life in a wheelchair, or to practice de-escalation techniques in response to microaggressions."

Simon Lowe, PTR's CEO, mid-sentence at a lectern. Simon Lowe
CEO, People Tech Revolution. The Cusp of a Revolution, Global Best Practice Group, October 2024

What practice looks like in justice and community services

Intake, mediation on country, the doorstep and the after-hours desk.

A mentor in his fifties and a young man in his late teens sit apart on the same step of a shaded verandah, part of a justice-sector VR mentoring scenario. — Sitting with someone until the conversation is ready.

An Elder in his mid-sixties sits with a young man from his community; a mediator wearing the headset sits outside their circle, rehearsing a mediation conversation. — Mediation on country, at the pace it needs.

A seventeen year old sits low in his chair, hood down; a youth worker in the headset sits sideways beside him, not squaring up, rehearsing a youth diversion conversation. — A youth worker sits sideways, not squaring up.

A woman sits with her coat on, talking, in a community service intake room, rain on the window; an intake worker in the headset listens, folder closed on her knee. — A woman keeps her coat on, folder closed.

A woman in her thirties stands wary but not hostile behind a security door; a family services worker in the headset stands back on the step, rehearsing a doorstep conversation. — The doorstep, and stepping back rather than forward.

A young man stands with hands covering his eyes at an after-hours crisis service desk; a night worker wearing the headset stands opposite, rehearsing a crisis conversation. — The after-hours desk, and not reaching across it.

A man sits with a bundle of unmarked papers at a community legal centre; a young lawyer wearing the headset sits opposite, hands folded, rehearsing this legal interview. — Papers squared, and the question not yet asked.

Four adults sit in a peer support circle in a community hall, plastic chairs under warm hanging lights; one wears the headset, mid-sentence with both hands open, rehearsing this conversation. — Four adults sit in a peer support circle.

Inside the simulation: a woman and her nine year old daughter sit facing the viewer, waiting and calm, in a plain family visits room with a box of toys nearby. — A mother and daughter share a visits room.

Inside the simulation: a magistrate sits at the bench while a solicitor stands mid-question in a courtroom seen from the witness position, blank choice buttons floating at chest height. — The witness position, and the first question.

Questions a service asks before it starts

The questions that come up early, answered in the words they get asked in.

A bail support worker sits opposite a man. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — Sitting opposite someone, on a hard day.

Do workers need headsets?

No. The same exchange runs typed before the hearing, or spoken out loud into an empty room, on whatever the service already has. The headset is the deepest version of the practice, not the way in.

When would a caseworker fit this in?

In the hour before anyone arrives, or at the table before the papers open. One exchange is short enough that it does not need to come out of anybody's caseload.

Is this a program that replaces our mentors?

The opposite. The mentoring would run the room and the headset would run the rehearsal. The relationship is the thing that changes behaviour; the practice is what gives it something to work on.

Young people we work with will not sit through training. Why would they do this?

Because it is not training as they have met it. A young person meets a future self in the scene and gets to choose differently, on a sofa, before the day it counts. That is a very different offer from a room with a whiteboard in it.

A charity advisor leans toward an older man. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — Leaning in, at a front desk.

Does this only suit youth justice?

No. The scenarios run through what a shift in community services actually turns on: an intake, a mediation with an Elder present, a disclosure nobody saw coming, a doorstep, and the front desk late in the day. Each is built in the room it really happens in.

The hour before anyone arrives

A justice build would make space to rehearse before a difficult meeting. Practitioners would help choose the setting and decide when written or spoken practice fits.

A woman in a suit sits at the bar table of an empty courtroom, a panel of glowing messages standing beside her. — Working through it at the bar table.

At the table, before the papers open

Written practice could help a practitioner examine how to put a hard question to somebody who is frightened or angry. The build would use approved language and escalation guidance.

A man in a suit stands with his back to the empty public gallery of a courtroom, a ribbon of light running across the benches. — Speaking it to an empty gallery.

Then out loud, to the empty gallery

Spoken practice would give a practitioner room to try an explanation aloud and review it with a colleague before using it in a hearing.

More training moments in justice and community services

Legal aid rooms, park stalls, classrooms and a corridor pause.

A duty lawyer alone in an interview room. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A duty lawyer alone in an interview room.

A corrections officer pauses in the corridor. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A corrections officer pauses in the corridor.

A facilitator leads a conversation around the table. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A facilitator leads a conversation around the table.

A legal aid worker speaks with park visitors. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A legal aid worker speaks with park visitors.

A lawyer and interpreter meet an older woman. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A lawyer and interpreter meet an older woman.

A teacher faces two seated participants. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A teacher faces two seated participants.

A wheelchair user answers questions at intake. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A wheelchair user answers questions at intake.

A tenancy advocate speaks with an older man. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A tenancy advocate speaks with an older man.

A community-centre mentor sits with a young man. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A community-centre mentor sits with a young man.

A family support worker sits with a woman. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A family support worker sits with a woman.

An intake worker speaks with a young woman. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — An intake worker speaks with a young woman.

A financial counsellor speaks with an older man. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A financial counsellor speaks with an older man.

A facilitator follows up with a woman. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A facilitator follows up with a woman.

A wheelchair user talks options with a lawyer. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — A wheelchair user talks options with a lawyer.

A VR justice and community services training scenario in which a caseworker stands to talk with a woman seated in a drop-in centre courtyard. — A caseworker meets a woman in the courtyard.

Through the headset in justice and community services

A courthouse foyer, a legal aid reception, a mediation room, a drop-in centre.

A young woman waits in the courthouse foyer. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — A young woman waits in the courthouse foyer.

A man waits at the legal aid counter. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — A man waits at the legal aid counter.

A woman waits alone, glancing at the door. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — A woman waits alone, glancing at the door.

A man stands behind the drop-in centre desk. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — A man stands behind the drop-in centre desk.

Two people sit apart in a mediation room. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — Two people sit apart in a mediation room.

A man sits apart from a counsellor. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — A man sits apart from a counsellor.

Two women sit apart in a victim-support office. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — Two women sit apart in a victim-support office.

A man faces an officer behind the counter. A first person VR training scenario for justice and community services, seen through the headset. — A man faces an officer behind the counter.

Before the room fills

Court and community services turn on what gets said to someone who is frightened or angry. That can be practised at a screen, without booking a room or a headset, or face to face in VR de-escalation training.

A woman stands in an empty courtroom beside a stack of glowing message panels. — Working out the wording in writing.

Typed, before the hearing

A written run is a place to find the plain sentence: what a person is being told, what happens next, and what they can do about it.

A man stands in an empty courtroom, a bright band of sound running the width of the frame as he speaks. — Saying it before anyone is listening.

Spoken, into an empty room

Delivering the same explanation out loud, with nobody in the gallery, shows where the sentence gets long and where it stops being understood.

AI practice partners

Working in justice or community services?

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Related PTR work

The Central Coast Council disability-awareness project shows how lived experience can shape a scenario. Justice practice would need the same attention to whose perspective is represented and how the conversation is reviewed.

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