Page 1431 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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The blueprint for youth justice is focused on improving outcomes for young people at risk of and in contact with the youth justice system. It recognises that, by reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors, the ACT community will be better equipped to keep young people safe, strong and connected. In the long term the blueprint seeks to achieve a community where fewer children and young people are at risk of or engaged in offending, and the ACT is safer for everyone.
As highlighted in reports tabled in the Assembly by my predecessors, over recent years we have seen a significant reduction in the number of young people engaged with the youth justice system. Between the commencement of the blueprint for youth justice and 2014-15 we saw a 34 per cent reduction in the number of young people under youth justice supervision, a 33 per cent reduction in the number of young people in detention, a 40 per cent reduction in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in detention, and a 60 per cent reduction in the number of nights young people spent in detention in the ACT.
The 2017 report on government services shows sustained progress, with a continued reduction in the number of nights young people spent in custody, and an increase in the rate of successfully completed community-based orders.
The ACT is recognised as a national leader in the provision of youth justice services and received a gold award in the 2016 Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards for its innovative approach to achieving a community where fewer children and young people are engaged in, or at risk of, offending. This award is a testament to the work of the specialists in child and adolescent psychology, trauma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement, youth justice, education and health who were involved in the development and implementation of the blueprint.
I would also like to acknowledge Mr Alan Tongue, the 2017 ACT Australian of the Year. This recognition was received in part for the aspire program that Mr Tongue developed to assist and rehabilitate young people in Bimberi Youth Justice Centre by equipping them with life skills to make positive choices.
These successes have been achieved in what is one of the most challenging yet rewarding areas of government responsibility. The rehabilitation of young people being supervised in the community, or while they are detained at Bimberi, is difficult but important work.
The ACT youth justice blueprint was launched in August 2012 and is nearing the half-way mark. The government made a commitment to report to the Assembly every two years on progress, but my predecessors have in fact reported on progress every year since the blueprint commenced. At the time of the last report in April 2016, of the 45 actions first agreed under the blueprint, 41 were complete, one was substantially complete and three had work underway. I am pleased to advise the Assembly that all 45 have now been completed.
As we near the halfway mark it is important to take stock, celebrate our achievements and focus on the next five years. Therefore, in the next few months I will establish a
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