Transition to Success: Mackay youths complete justice program

These teens had early brushes with police but they have refused to let their circumstances define their future. Read how they set themselves on a better path.

Eight young Mackay residents were on a dangerous path to crime a year ago.

Now, they are working in the community or advancing their education.

The young adults graduated from the Queensland Government’s Transition to Success program, which aims to reduce re-offending within communities.

Their involvement means they had been through the youth justice system because of prior brushes with police.

Youth Justice Program T2S senior transition officer Brittany Taylor, based in Mackay, said many of the children she worked with had dropped out of mainstream schooling and were living with a sense of failure.

“I suppose they have not been able to make it work with mainstream education,” she said.

“But we put them in a program like T2S and we really see they start to gain their confidence back.

“They get those small wins when they realise there are lots of other pathways to success that might not necessarily mean mainstream schooling.”

The program takes a holistic approach to helping young people; not only supporting their employment opportunities but educating them on living a healthy lifestyle.

“Along with our vocational program we also do many therapeutic activities such as a boot camp,” Ms Taylor said.

“We have them doing a healthy lifestyle program; teaching them how to make better decisions with food, alcohol, drugs, exercise and relationships with each other.”

Ms Taylor said the program worked with a number of community agencies, with many of the children living in out of home care.

“This program gives them links back to their community,” she said.

“T2S is only an emerging site and we are very interested in building more partnerships in the community.”

A Mackay T2S graduate, aged 18, said the program was instrumental in finding her confidence.

“I feel like T2S really motivated me to do my very best and to not be so shy when it comes to trying something new,” she said.

“I gained a lot from the program and it helped me to feel confident in trying new things and meeting new people.”

Mackay MP Julianne Gilbert. Picture: Lillian Watkins

Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert said T2S program experienced its largest number of graduates in 2021, with 207 graduates in the past year alone.

“The participants are learning attributes such as punctuality, communication and teamwork,” she said.

“And where needed, they’re being connected to support services to help them with issues that could affect their capacity to stay in education or find work.

“This includes services that tackle drug and alcohol misuse or provide stable accommodation.

“This is particularly important as it is an opportunity to address some of the factors that can lead some young people to offend.”