Gold Coast Councillor Hermann Vorster calls on state government to make youth crisis accommodation facilities public

The state government has been sent a letter demanding the locations of youth crisis accommodation facilities be made public.

• Residents want answers over juvie housing

A Gold Coast councillor has called on the state government to make the locations of youth crisis accommodation facilities available to the public after Emma Lovell was violently murdered in her North Lakes home.

Gold Coast Councillor Hermann Vorster has sent Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk a letter explaining why the government now more than ever needed to make the accommodation facilities public.

Emma Lovell, 41, was stabbed in the chest after two intruders broken into her home on Boxing Day night.

At least one of the boys has been linked to a government-funded house, which provides “supported independent living” to children under 16.

“I firmly believe our community is being kept in the dark about the risks they face living in their own homes,” Cr Vorster said.

Councillor Hermann Vorster has called on the state government to be more transparent with the public. Picture, John Gass

“The state government has delivered these homes without proper community consultation and by keeping the locations secret.

“I think it’s absurd.”

Cr Vorster said the government needed to be transparent from today.

“The government already makes crime statistics available through an online mapping tool,
he said.

“That mapping tool doesn’t provide the specific address of a crime but it gives you a pretty good idea of the neighbourhood.

“I think the government should be using that tool from today to show the public.

He said the houses should not exist but since they do an extra layer of information is needed.

“Police tell me they are quite aware of the source of the issues, they can pin them down to specific groups of kids, living in specific streets,” he said.

“Only when you have information can you know the risk and then mitigate the risks.

“I am one of the founders of the Gold Coast district neighbourhood watch. I know that an area that has a neighbourhood watch presence has 26 per cent lower crime.

“People are more vigilant when they know the risk in their neighbourhood.”

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs said addresses of placement services were not publicised “in line with the privacy provisions contained in the Child Protection Act 1999”.

“However, where possible, service providers proactively engage with neighbours to address issues and provide neighbours with contacts to enable timely responses to any concerns.”

She said supported independent living accommodation - like that used in North Lakes - is for “15 to 17 year-olds with moderate to complex support needs who are transitioning to independent living”.

A range of placement services were funded by the government, specifically for “children and young people who are separated from their families because they are in need of protection”, the spokeswoman said.

“They have either being significantly harmed or are at risk of significant harm and they do not have a parent able and willing to protect them from that harm.”

Originally published as Gold Coast Councillor Hermann Vorster calls on state government to make youth crisis accommodation facilities public