Understaffed mental health services failing to address youth crime, judge warns

Child criminals with significant mental health problems are not being treated because of chronic staff shortages in Queensland, a senior judge has warned.

Judge Deborah Richards. Picture: Tara Croser

Child criminals with significant mental health problems are not being treated because of chronic staff shortages in Queensland, Children’s Court president Deborah Richards has warned.

In her annual report, Judge Richards says the forensic youth mental health service, responsible for treating children in detention and on bail, is unable to provide ­assessments or reports to court.

“It remains a significant concern that there is a chronic shortage of mental health professionals … able to assist young people in the youth justice system, both at the assessment and treatment stage,” she wrote.

“It leads to large delays in the resolution of charges and leaves children’s significant mental health issues untreated.”

The Palaszczuk government has been under increasing pressure over its response to youth crime after a series of high-profile incidents in recent weeks, including the alleged stabbing murder of Brisbane mother Emma Lovell during a home invasion.

Laws aimed at tackling the youth crime wave will be rushed through Queensland parliament next month, but experts criticised the reforms, saying they do not address root causes of offending.

Bond University criminologist Terry Goldsworthy, a former detective, said government had to invest in addressing complex factors – such as mental health, domestic violence and drug abuse – to rehabilitate young criminals.

“The focus has been on the short term and I get that, the community is extremely angry at the moment with what is happening,” he said.

“But for the long term, the government needs to show a commitment to allowing these kids to access things like mental health services.

“If that’s not happening, then that’s quite concerning. You need to make sure the therapeutic response is there to move as many people out of offending to normal behaviour.”

A 2020 Youth Justice Department census found 46 per cent of juvenile offenders had a mental health disorder.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said there had “clearly been an increase in youth crime”.

“That is understandably causing concern in the community and it is the role of our elected leaders to act on those concerns … that is precisely what is happening here,” he said.

“The programs we are delivering in detention is where we have the opportunity to intervene, to help those young people turn their lives around.”

Mr Miles said because of court delays, children were serving their entire sentence while on remand, which diminished the opportunity to deliver programs in detention.

Greens MP Michael Berkman said the government was wasting money building two new youth detention centres while underfunding mental healthcare.

“We need to properly fund wraparound services for kids who do offend, but we also need a preventive strategy to actually keep our communities safe,” he said.

“There are mountains of evidence that meeting kids’ basic needs will reduce crime, and absolutely zero evidence that more prisons or tougher sentences help.”

New Productivity Commission data revealed Queensland locks up more young offenders than any other Australian jurisdiction, and 56.8 per cent of juveniles sentenced to detention, probation, bail or parole were back before courts within a year.

LNP justice spokesman Tim Nicholls said the government was failing on youth justice. “It’s no wonder that the Productivity Commission report shows recidivism at 57 per cent when this government fails to invest in programs to help young offenders break the cycle of crime.”