New youth justice peak body to improve community safety

• A new youth justice peak body will work with justice representatives and the State Government to inform policy that improves community safety.
• The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) has been appointed as the inaugural co-ordinator of the body.
• A youth justice peak body was a key recommendation of the Queensland Family and Childrens Commission’s 2023 Children’s Rights Report.

This new youth justice peak body will help to drive evidence-based approaches to improve community safety.

It will:

• work with youth justice representatives and the State Government to inform policy decisions
• enhance effective intervention and prevention strategies
• address over-representation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island young people in the Queensland youth justice system
• work with communities, practitioners, and policymakers to promote the safety and wellbeing of young people and their families in the system
• develop strategies to deliver a capable and effective youth justice workforce
• design and deliver campaigns targeting community service providers, and community groups, representing the view of the youth justice sector
• build the capability of service providers in rural and remote locations and those providing services to First Nations and culturally diverse communities
• The appointment of QATSICPP follows an expression of interest (EOI) process.  

There has not been a peak body that specifically deals with youth justice in Queensland since 2012.

It will share information across the sector, including the ongoing consultation on a new youth justice strategy. The new strategy will be agile and adopt new evidence-based approaches in response to a quickly changing environment.

Quotes attributable to Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer:

“Community safety is an absolute priority for our government, which is why we are establishing a Queensland Youth Justice peak body to respond to offending by young people, and tackling its complex causes.

“It will engage with the Youth Justice sector to improve outcomes with enhanced intervention and prevention responses, policy development, and advice to government that strengthens community safety.”

Quotes Attributable to Lizzie Adams, Chairperson QATSICPP

“QATSICPP is pleased to be appointed as the youth justice peak in Queensland. We are committed to working with all parties to deliver long term solutions to youth offending”

“We have serious concerns about the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children interacting with youth justice. We urge all parts of the system to work with us to solve this problem.

“As the Youth Justice Peak we will focus on creating safer communities by building strengthened partnerships with government, service providers and community organisations.”

Quotes Attributable to Garth Morgan, CEO QATSICPP

“QATSICPP looks forward to working with government and key partners to create safer communities and change the life trajectory of young people who interact with the criminal justice system.

 “We need to better understand the factors driving youth offending and identify alternatives to traditional detention to ensure that young offenders don’t cycle in to becoming serious repeat offenders.

  “The overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in detention is unacceptable. We will work constructively with all parts of the system to reverse the trend on locking up First Nations children.” 

For more information visit the Queensland Government QTenders Website. 

ENDS

Media contact – Gary Shipway 0458 090906