Stronger Communities initiative to break Townsville youth crime cycle

The Palaszczuk Government is launching a whole-of-government Stronger Communities initiative to break youth crime cycle in Townsville.

Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland Coralee O’Rourke and Townsville region Members of Parliament Aaron Harper and Scott Stewart met with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last night to bring together relevant agencies to focus on crime and the causes of crime in Townsville.

Following community feedback from the Youth Justice Forum, representatives from Police, Justice and Attorney-General, Communities, Education, Housing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, and Health will work together as the Stronger Communities Group.

Ms O’Rourke said: “The reasons for youth crime are complex. It can be drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, mental, physical and sexual abuse or a combination of these. In order to tackle juvenile crime, we must bring all agencies together to break the cycle of crime for these youth and put them on track to a more productive life.”

Mr Harper said: “Too much crime in our community is being committed by youth. To be frank, these kids should be at home – having dinner with their family, finishing their homework and going to sleep.  Instead, they are breaking into homes, they are stealing cars and they are running amok.”

Police are on the frontline and we are providing them with extra resources in Townsville.

The additional resources to be rolled out in the Townsville region include:

• 15 new police recruits will be deployed to Townsville by the end of the year;

• 138 body-worn cameras to be rolled out to frontline police officers in Townsville over coming months; and

• Maintain high visible policing presence through Tactical Crime Squad, Townsville Rapid Action and Patrols.

Mr Stewart said: “Additional resources for our Police are important for community safety, but to stop offending and re-offending by juveniles we need to bring together all the programs across Departments to get them to turn their back on crime.”

The Members will meet with the Directors-General for these Departments on Wednesday to:

1. Nominate Townsville-based members for each Department to join the Stronger Communities Group;

2. Commit to a stocktake of each agencies’ current resources and programs, including partnerships with local non-government organisations and broader membership of the Group; and

3. Set a timeframe for the Group to make recommendations on further actions. 

The Stronger Communities Group will follow up on discussions that flowed from the Youth Justice Forum in Townsville in June and will complement the Community Policing Board, which was established in July.

Media Contact:                                  Minister O’Rourke’s office                  3719 7170