VACRO: Victorian Association For The Care & Resettlement Of Offenders

Marius Smith is the CEO of VACRO, which supports people in contact with the criminal justice system and their families to safely and successfully integrate into their communities. VACRO has a strong focus on employment, disability and general reintegration services for prison leavers, and also provides targeted support to the children and families of incarcerated people.

Prior to commencing at VACRO in 2019, Marius managed Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, a globally respected human rights policy, public education and research hub. While there, he introduced a strong policy focus on criminal justice and prisons, heading an extensive research project on the use of force in all forms of detention and co-founding the Indigenous Group of Learning, which works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men at Port Phillip Prison.

Marius has also worked as a lawyer at a number of commercial law firms, worked with refugees in the Philippines, and managed an aid and development program in Sudan and Eritrea.

MC: President Andrew Crockett