Public hearing into youth justice reform held in Cairns
Teens being held in the Cairns watch-house for weeks at a time and the financial burden on victims of crime will be among the issues discussed at a public hearing.
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Teens being held in the Cairns watch-house for weeks at a time and the financial burden on victims of crime will be among the issues discussed at a public hearing into youth justice reform in the Far North on Wednesday.
The Youth Justice Reform Select Committee was established in October 2023 to conduct an inquiry to examine ongoing reforms to the youth justice system and support for victims of crime.
The first round of submissions closed on January 10 this year, with a number of Far North organisations presenting their recommendations.
Youth Empowered Towards Independence is one of the organisations who will be presenting to the hearing at Crystalbrook Bailey before it is opened to the floor.
“It’s critically important that the hearing engages with the community and hears our voices and differing points of view in coming up with solutions to address such a complex problem,” YETI CEO Genevieve Sinclair said.
Ms Sinclair stressed that any solutions proposed for the complicated issue needed to be able to be made operational with appropriate staffing and supports.
“Locking children up is expensive and drives crime. Watch-houses and detention centres that are not therapeutic are effectively crime factories and make our communities less safe,” she said.
“The bigger problem we need to tackle is the need to be able to safely staff and employ workers to work in any models that we come up with.
“Some children need to be detained or contained, we have no argument with that, but if we detain children it needs to be staffed by the right sorts of workers and at the right levels.”
Ms Sinclair said unfortunately, the current approach “is burning out the police, the health workers, and the community workers and it’s unsustainable”.
“New detention centres or remote camps may sound good for the community but if you can’t staff it doesn't get off the ground,” she said.
It its submission YETI argued that substantive changes are needed in the treatment of young people in the justice system.
“This includes recognising that children should not be criminalised at a young age and raising the minimum age of responsibility to 14.”
YETI also argued the prolonged detention of children in watch houses violates their right to humane treatment and the rights of the child protected by Queensland’s Human Rights Act.
“As we finalise this paper (submitted January 10) there are currently 14 children in the Cairns watch-house,” the submission said.
“One of the children has been detained there for 21 days and three others for 18 days.”
A submission from the Mornington Shire Council also highlighted the link between incarceration, and recidivism and peer influence.
“Anecdotally too, we have found that youths from Mornington Island that have been in custody at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre have been inclined to verbally romanticise and promote the experience positively for others because it involves a flight to the mainland and a different environment,” the council’s submission reads.
Mareeba Shire Council also prepared a submission into the inquiry.
Mayor Angela Toppin noted that the Local Government Association of Queensland has a nine-point action plan, which includes proposals for more diversionary programs and indigenous police officers, as well as an audit of all youth justice services.
Ms Toppin said she was particularly concerned with the financial burden for victims of crime.
“All too often, victims of crime are also forced to carry the financial burden through no fault of their own” she said.
The public hearing will run from 1pm to 5.30pm Wednesday at Crystalbrook Bailey.
Submissions for this round to the Select Commitee can still be made until Friday March 1, 2024.
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