Youth Justice Reform discussion paper 2016

Youth Justice Reform-Discussion Paper

By Email: Yjconsultation@justice.qld.gov.au

Dear Madam/Sir

Youth Justice Reform

Thank you for the opportunity to make a contribution to this discussion.

The QCCL agrees with the fundamental objectives described in the summary of the paper which are:

1          to divert children and young people from further involvement when they first come into contact with the youth justice system

2          rehabilitate children and young people during their involvement in the youth justice system

3          to support successful transition from the youth justice system into a crime free life in the community.

In our submission to the Youth Justice Consultation we supported the mandatory diversion of young people from the Criminal Justice system to restorative justice processes.

We fully support a focus on the rehabilitation of young people.

In a speech delivered on 27 March 2003 entitled "Turning Boys into Fine Men: The role of economic and social policy". the well-known criminologist Don Weatherburn made the following comment, "even the most optimistic research to date suggests that incapacitation is a not very cost-effective way of reducing juvenile crime. The money we spend incarcerating juvenile offenders would, in many instances, be better spent treating or trying to rehabilitate them. There is good evidence that treatment of drug dependence is an effective way of reducing reoffending. There is also good evidence, despite earlier suggestion to the contrary, that it is possible to rehabilitate offenders using methods such as conferencing, cognitive behavioural therapy or training in basic life skills.".

However, as Dr Weatherburn went on to point out a far better approach would be to "reduce the rate at which young people become persistent offenders, rather than increase the rate at which we catch them, put them behind bars or put them in treatment. Early intervention programs offer one avenue for achieving this."

In this regard focus needs to be put on assisting parents to be better parents.

In other work Dr Weatherburn has referred approvingly to the Queensland Triple P Parenting Program.

Economic research indicates that early intervention is a more cost effective way of dealing with crime than conventional sanctions such as imprisonment. The research referred to by Dr Weatherburn in 2003 has been reinforced by later research for example Greenwood Prevention and Intervention Programs for Juvenile Offenders Juvenile Justice Volume 18 Number 2 Fall 2008 at page 188 where a number of programs are discussed.

As Dr Weatherburn noted in his speech there are other ways of reducing juvenile crime including: reducing long-term unemployment, encouraging more flexible working arrangements for parents and ensuring that poor families have direct access to quality child care or adequate income support if they elect to stay home during the first year of a child's life. We also need to slow down the spatial concentration of poverty and revitalise neighbourhoods where disadvantage and crime have become deeply entrenched.

We accept that a lot of those issues are not within the capacity of a State Government. However, the type of programs discussed by Weatherburn and Greenwood are within the capacity of a State Government. Given the evidence that early intervention will save the government money we would respectfully submit that this is an area on which the government should focus by identifying effective programs and funding them.