Churchill Fellow Julie Morrison is never far from dogs, although those she mixes with are different animals with quite specific functions.
In her private life, Julie, a self-described ‘dog person my whole life’, breeds and shows Field Spaniels, handsome creatures bred originally to flush out gamebirds in the English countryside. They have brought her considerable success in the show ring as well as tracking, obedience, and scent work.
Julie is just as proud of the Labradors with which she works in her job at the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) where Court Support Dogs have proved invaluable in helping witnesses, often the victims of serious crimes, feel more comfortable about attending court and telling their stories.
With a background in teaching and human behaviour, Julie had worked with therapy dogs in hospitals and schools. In 2018, feeling dogs would be useful in the legal environment, she received a Churchill Fellowship to study how Court Support Dog Programs were operating in the USA and Canada where they were being used to support witnesses giving evidence.
In 2023, she was awarded a Churchill Trust Fellow Impact Funding Grant, an initiative to enhance the outcomes of Churchill Fellows’ research and subsequent professional achievements, to engage independent evaluation of the program she had been instrumental in introducing to Australia. Here, notably in Victoria where it is most advanced, consistent anecdotal feedback suggested that in the ensuing years it had proved a success.
‘The Churchill Fellowship enabled me to study whether such a program could be introduced in Australia and how it might best be run,’ Julie says.
‘That has since happened, and the feedback has been very positive. This was the start of my Churchill journey. I had no idea where it would take me, and what impact it could have on the community,’ she adds.
‘We believe it’s really achieving its goals. We have provided support to over 600 victims in 500 criminal matters. Often, a court can get a full disclosure from someone who might otherwise say nothing.’
One of the many survivors of crime told Julie about the benefits of having a dog to accompany her in court, saying, ‘She made me smile… to laugh at a time when there was not much to smile about.’
Another, a girl who had been sexually assaulted, said she felt special because she had the dog on one of the worst days of her life, when she had to describe her ordeal to the court.
Feedback from legal professionals is similarly positive, with the value of the Court Support Dog program now being widely acknowledged.
In one case, when a six-year-old boy was to give evidence, the judge came down and met with the witness, giving him the dog’s lead to hold.
Later, when the evidence was over, he asked the boy ‘What’s the best thing about Lucy?’
‘She listens to me,’ the boy replied.
In Melbourne, four dogs are working as justice facility dogs. Lucy works for the OPP, Kiki works for Child Witness Services, Baila works for the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre (Geelong) and Poppy works for the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
‘The positive results and demand for the first dog led to expansion of the program with the placement of a second dog at Child Witness Services to provide a full-time resource to children.’
Julie has seen how the court process can retraumatize people and result in their becoming disengaged. Having the dogs as passive companions has enabled witnesses to give evidence more effectively and saved considerable court time and cost.
‘If just thirty minutes is saved per hearing, the whole program is cost neutral,’ Julie says.
The criteria for the dogs’ use is strict. It includes the dog enhancing the fact-finding process and not being a distraction. The calm temperament of Labradors makes them ideal for this work.
The dog must provide support in a way that will reduce the stress levels of the person it is with and so help them with a better recall of the facts.
The dog must be handled by someone in the legal profession, and when used in court in a jury trial, the agency must discuss with the court the best and most practical ways to ensure the jury will not see or be distracted by the dog. This may include removing the jury when the dog is brought in and taken out.
The puppies are provided by accredited training schools in Australia. Lucy and Kiki came from Assistance Dogs of Australia and Baila and Poppy came from Guide Dogs Victoria. Their behaviours and temperaments were assessed carefully before they were placed. When not working, they live with guardian families and enjoy a high quality of life as crazy Labradors.
Julie, now regarded as ‘the subject expert in Australia’, has formed the Justice Facility Dogs Australia network, conducted the inaugural Justice Facility Dogs Conference and given presentations to various judiciaries, including Melbourne County Court, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Coroner’s Court of Queensland.
In 2018 and 2021 Julie was awarded a Victorian Government Values and Culture Award for her work on the developing the Program and assisting other agencies.
Despite the program’s apparent success, taking it to the next level – more official approval and uptake around Australia – depended on data that would prove its value, including cost benefits.
The support for this research was provided by the awarding of Churchill Impact funding to enable Julie to commission independent assessment of the OPP court dog program, the first time in the world that such an evaluation had taken place.
‘This additional funding has been a real game changer,’ Julie says, ‘as it enables concrete proof of the program’s success…’
‘The final report will not only help us improve our own program but will be disseminated and shared with other justice agencies interested in starting a court dog program.’
Listen to Julie’s story ‘A Dogs Day In Court‘ on The Wayfinders Podcast