There was a split in the views of Australian women interviewed on the utility of the criminal justice system and restorative justice in responding to domestic and family violence. This split was between indigenous and non-indigenous women. Indigenous women strongly rejected the criminal justice system as an appropriate and effective response to domestic and family violence. Non-indigenous women embraced the criminal justice system as the most appropriate response to domestic and family violence. However, non-indigenous women recognize that the criminal justice system is for the most part ineffective in achieving key objectives. For both groups of women, support was found for some type of incorporation of the criminal justice system and restorative justice to address inadequacies in both approaches; however they differed on the prominence of each approach in such an incorporation or merger. Restorative justice could potentially supplement the criminal justice system in dealing with nonviolent aspects of a case. This article analyzed interview responses from two Australian task force investigations examining justice responses to violence against women. One task force consisted of indigenous women and the other consisted of non-indigenous women. Opposing recommendations were presented on the suitability of restorative justice for cases of domestic and family violence. References