Shocking youth crime reoffending statistics at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre revealed

New statistics show an alarming reoffending rate at a North Queensland youth detention centre.

Emergency services responded to a riot at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

Shocking figures show 9 out of 10 juveniles commit another offence within 12 months after serving time at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre (CYDC), the Cairns Post can reveal.

Amid an intense public debate on how to deal with youth crime, Minister for Youth Justice Di Farmer said 328 young people completed a stay in custody at CYDC in the 12 months ending 30 June, 2022

“Of those young people, 92 percent were alleged to have committed another offence 12 months after they were released.”

In 2014, the reoffending rate for juveniles in CYDC was 81 percent.

Cairns youth advocate Perri Conti, who volunteers to help rehabilitate young offenders, said the 92 per cent figure was “no surprise.”

Cairns youth advocate and anti-crime campaigner Perri Conti says the government has “given up” on repeat offenders. Picture: Peter Carruthers

She said many young people come out of CYDC “unemployable” and “unable to read and write”.

“CYDC is badly understaffed and has been for a while, so kids aren’t going to school.”

A source from the centre confirmed that the CYDC has been experiencing “a severe staff shortage”.

“It is supposed to operate on a 1 to 4 staff to juvenile ratio, but at the moment, they have so few staff that ... they are operating at night mode. Night mode means that 85 per cent of young people are locked in their cells at any given time. They don’t go to school or do worthwhile rehabilitation; they are just given homework packs in the rooms.”

“It’s a ticking time bomb for violence ...”

Youths rioting on top of a building at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in 2016. Picture: Domanii Cameron

Ms Farmer confirmed there were 10 frontline vacancies at CYDC. However, the government and the Australian Workers Union say they hope a new pay deal agreement last month will help the facility attract more workers.

Criminologist Matthew Morgan from the Australian Catholic University said that the high recidivism rates at the CYDC showed that “a tough on crime’ response to youth justice is likely to fail”.

He said incarceration “further perpetuated” systemic social and economic forces that drive crime and disorder.”

“Put it this way. Remember, during the throes of the pandemic, and they suspected you had Covid-19, they chucked you into a hotel room for two weeks on your own. Imagine if we instead put all those potentially infectious people together in one big room – everyone gets infected. Prison works very much the same”.

Opposition Corrective Services Minister Dale Last said the increase in recidivism rates “proves that the system is failing”.

“Offenders are not changing their ways because there are no consequences for actions and they are not being rehabilitated,” Mr Last said.

However, the government defended its approach to youth crime.

“We have continually increased the number and type of intervention and rehabilitation programs for serious repeat offenders,” Ms Farmer said.

Minister for Youth Justice. Dianne Farmer has defended the government’s record on rehabilitating young offenders. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Glenn Campbell

She said the government had created 18 multi-agency collaborative panels that “involve government agencies coming together to ensure tailored supports are provided to young people and their families to address issues such as education, employment, health, housing, and family supervision”.

“My department has also established 72-hour transition plans for serious repeat offenders leaving detention,” Ms Farmer said.

Ms Conti said she wondered if the government hadn’t “given up” on young people already involved in crime.

“I’ve recently been working with a 17-year-old who has spent years going through the criminal justice system, and he can’t read or write,” she said.

“It’s like the Government thinks these young people (already engaged in crime) are too hard to deal with.”

Originally published as Shocking youth crime reoffending statistics at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre revealed