Page 4561 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 18 October 2011
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I have people in my office on a regular basis talking about their family, their kith, their kin, who are at risk of ending up in the youth justice system and then ending up in the adult corrections system, and they have no confidence in the government and the directorate delivering services that will save their kids from that path. I had someone in my office yesterday that said, “If things don’t improve, my kids are going to end up in the corrections system.” And that is an indictment of this minister. I will not be cowed, and my colleagues will not be cowed. We will not stop asking questions about what is going on in the youth justice system. Minister Burch can just hold on for the ride, because we will be keeping her accountable.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (4.06): I am pleased to have received the government response to the Bimberi report. I look forward to reading and analysing this document. It is quite a large one. It could have been quite useful to have received it earlier so we could have had a more considered response at this point, but I note that the minister has moved that the Assembly takes note of the paper so that we can come back and have another debate about that.
A range of stakeholders were engaged to allow the commissioners to bring forward some 224 recommendations to improve the outcomes for children, young people and staff within youth justice services in the ACT. The inquiry into the youth justice system by the Human Rights Commission—that was, of course, the review and the human rights audit—produced a range of findings, as we have said. It revealed that being human rights compliant and achieving quality outcomes is not something you attain once; it is about constant reflection and understanding of your practices. It is asking questions about how to do things better to improve the system and to make sure that rehabilitation and wellbeing of young people is always our primary focus.
Preventing young children and young people from becoming involved in the youth justice system should be a priority. The minister has just spoken about the diversionary framework that is being worked on. We do need to see that diversion from the youth justice system is really the main game.
I would argue that the Bimberi report demonstrated that the current youth justice system is lagging behind Australian research and evidence and indeed international practice around prevention. I think there is no argument about the huge value of prevention programs and the ability to cost savings in other areas of the justice system and the broader community. There are challenges as we move through times of increasing pressures on financial resources, and we need to ensure that the value of targeted youth crime prevention programs is appreciated by all levels of government and in particular those making funding decisions. The ACT Greens will actively pursue this case very loudly in order to make our community safer and provide support to young people at risk of offending.
During my recent visit to the UK I met with the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, which had recently published figures which showed a dramatic reduction in the numbers of children and young people entering the criminal justice system, as well as a notable fall in the reoffending rates. The justice board described how these successes would have not been possible without the input of non-government agencies
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