Page 5768 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011
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The development of the blueprint needs to be informed by the expert opinion of a youth justice advisory panel that has strong qualifications in child and youth psychology, trauma and abuse, education, health and, of course, youth justice. To move forward without this expertise is a mistake—one that we cannot afford to make. We cannot afford to let another year go by with a patchwork, incomplete and half-baked youth justice system letting the territory’s young people down and failing to respond to the community expectations of rehabilitative justice.
We can look to other jurisdictions on this matter, and see that the use of independent or semi-independent advisory councils and committees who have ongoing and long-term engagement is common. The Juvenile Justice Advisory Council of New South Wales provides independent advice to the New South Wales government on juvenile justice policy and related youth, welfare and legal issues.
The council has a mandate to promote public awareness of and facilitate constructive discussion of juvenile justice matters and was established with the support of both major parties in the New South Wales parliament. The Juvenile Justice Advisory Council was established by the then Minister for Justice and Attorney-General on 18 September 1991 to provide advice to the government on juvenile justice policy and to develop a long-term strategic plan for juvenile justice in New South Wales. Since that time, community representatives, services providers and experts on juvenile justice and crime prevention have contributed to the advice provided by the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council.
In the Northern Territory there is the Youth Justice Advisory Committee. Under the Youth Justice Act, the YJAC must consist of not less than eight and not more than 12 members appointed by the minister. The committee must reflect the composition of the community at large and comprise government, non-government and community representatives. The term of office is three years or as stated in the instrument of appointment. Members are eligible for reappointment.
The YJAC has an important role. One of YJAC’s main objectives is to monitor the Youth Justice Act, which has a number of provisions regarding how young people should be dealt with in the criminal justice system. The YJAC undertakes research in relevant areas, including new trends in the area of youth justice and the high level of offending and incarceration of Indigenous young people.
In addition, there are many more examples of the positive use of these panels, so why should the ACT be any different? I strongly believe that, without this panel, we are at risk of getting this wrong. Getting this wrong means many more years of negative outcomes for young people, families and the Canberra community.
In order to drive good reform that makes a difference, the ACT government needs to appoint a youth justice advisory panel that has the qualifications and expertise to properly advise the government and the task force on developing, implementing and monitoring the policies and procedures that are based on best practice and a solid evidence base.
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