Dr Jo Wailling

Jo founded restorative responses in 2023 to foster collaboration, connection and enable restorative potential in health and disability systems.

Jo collaborates with government agencies, organisations and communities interested in co-designing, commissioning or evaluating restorative initiatives. She has supported organisations in Aotearoa NZ, Australia, Canada, the United States, England and Scotland. Her healthcare career spans thirty years and includes clinical and national leadership roles, expertise in human factors - a people centred systems approach to designing and evaluating safety – policy and research. Notable contributions include co-designing and evaluation of the Ministry of Health response to surgical mesh harm and a restorative health system framework in NZ. 

Jo has facilitated restorative responses to workplace harms, treatment injury, and sudden death. She has been researching the relational contribution to safety, harm and justice for over a decade and her doctoral thesis Humanising Harm surfaced how and for whom restorative responses work (or not) and in what conditions. 

Jo serves as Co-Chair of the National Collaborative for Restorative Initiatives in Health NZ, a board member of Restorative Practices International and is a member of the Resilient Healthcare Society.