A new report issued by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) maintains that youth crime will be reduced only with changes across the health, education, family support and legal justice systems.
The QFCC’s Changing the Sentence Report delivered 13 findings, including a call to invest in prevention and early intervention programs to help reduce factors contributing to a young person committing a crime.
The Report also called for specialised services to help the small number of young people already in the statutory system who were responsible for most youth crime.
Principal Commissioner at the QFCC, Cheryl Vardon said the report stemmed from a 2019 Department of Youth Justice request that the QFCC assess the success of youth justice reforms and examine options for future investment.
“I commend the Department for taking a proactive approach to making sure reforms delivered a reliable and trusted youth justice system and that children’s rights, wellbeing and safety were being upheld and protected,” Ms Vardon said.
“We looked at initiatives designed to keep children out of court and custody and in assessing impacts on children’s rights we believe some are being neglected.”
She said there needed to be a shift away from a criminal focus to prevention.
“We will be briefing Government and non-Government Agencies about these findings and proposed future directions,” Ms Vardon said.
The Report also advocated returning decision-making about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in the youth justice system to local communities and community-controlled organisations.
It called for more proactive and early responses to re-engaging children and young people with education and said health services provided to vulnerable children and their families, particularly those aged under 14, should be revisited.
The QFCC’s 107-page Changing the Sentence Report can be accessed at this PS News link and sections of the Report at this link.
