A major disadvantage of a fully voluntary system is that restorative justice can easily remain on the fringe of the criminal justice system. Despite the good work done by many people over two decades, restorative justice for adults is still very much the exception in New Zealand. My estimate is that the total number of cases where restorative conferences are held for criminal wrongdoing by adults is less than 2,000 per year — only about five percent of cases that meet the criteria for state funding.