Workers in the Youth Justice system and the National Rugby League (NRL) have joined forces to help troubled teens in Bundaberg.
Minister for Child Safety, Youth and Women, Di Farmer said 10 young people from the Transition to Success (T2S) program, which provides vocational training for young offenders and ‘at-risk’ youth, would take part in the sports initiative.
Ms Farmer said T2S sought to develop young people’s behavioural and social skills, while also enabling them to gain nationally-recognised certificate qualifications.
“An evaluation showed 67 per cent of graduates don’t go on to offend within 12 months of doing the program, and 95 per cent go on to further education, training or employment,” Ms Farmer said.
“The NRL has been working with the students under the Australian Government’s Find Your 30 initiative, which encourages physical activity.”
She said the physical training regime had not only kept the participants active over the past five weeks but had also helped their teamwork and communication skills.
“This culminated in a gala day where they played the local Western Suburbs football team, so they could put their new skills into practice,” Ms Farmer said.
Non-contact Development Officer for the Wide Bay NRL, Corey Tanner said sport was an effective way of reducing boredom and anti-social behaviour in young people.
“We saw this as a great opportunity to help the build the self-confidence of T2S participants, while highlighting the physical, social and mental benefits that come from 30 minutes of activity each day,” Mr Tanner said.
“Rugby league is very popular with some of these teens, so we wanted to harness this interest to produce broader benefits.”
Ms Farmer said the partnership helped to remove barriers faced by some families.
“Unfortunately, costs and transport challenges prevent some young people from participating in sport.”
“The involvement of the NRL ensures disadvantaged youth are included and promotes a sense of community,” she said.