Former prisons boss says youth crime like a ‘natural disaster’

Likening Queensland’s youth crime epidemic to a natural disaster, a former prisons boss has offered his blueprint for change. 

Former corrective services boss Keith Hamburger has compared Queensland’s youth crime crisis to a natural disaster, saying governments are quick to respond to events such as Cyclone Yasi, but are hesitant to act on justice. 

It is understood two State Government ministers have asked to meet with Mr Hamburger in the wake of his report suggesting detention centres should be removed and dysfunctional families should be given more advice on matters relating to health, hygiene and education.

Mr Hamburger – Queensland’s former director-general of Corrective Services – has previously been at the forefront of prison reform in the Northern Territory, where he was an expert witness at a royal commission.

“If the disaster of juvenile and adult crime was a natural disaster, governments and the community would act with extreme urgency to repair the damage and implement mitigations to reduce the impact of future events,” Mr Hamburger said.

“What we have here is a human, social and economic disaster of immense proportions that needs to be treated with the same sense of extreme urgency.”

Former Corrective Services director-general Keith Hamburger

Mr Hamburger believes existing laws for juveniles are adequate, but said dysfunctional families should be offered advice by the State on parenting, nutrition, health and hygiene as well as be given involvement in recreation and community pride programs like Tidy Towns.

He has also pushed for detention centres to be replaced by 24/7 supervised community facilities that would allow offenders to undergo rehabilitation while moving freely throughout these areas.

Already, six Indigenous communities have expressed interest in trailing the concept.

“These juvenile and adult facilities will operate under the auspice of Child and Family Community Hubs that would also deliver family and community strengthening initiatives, Community mentoring of offenders, age, disabled care and housing services, and where appropriate rural industries, tourism initiatives, work skills and training services,” Mr Hamburger’s research paper reads.

“The model will save billions of dollars over the next decade and place Queensland in the forefront of best practice crime reduction.”

Mr Hamburger’s proposals have support from a former Supreme Court judge and several magistrates, he said.

The State Government has been contacted for comment.