General News
16 January, 2025
Groups push for community approach to youth justice
THE new State Government needed to engage more effectively with local Elders and grassroots and community-controlled organisations in the development of therapeutic justice responses, according to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd and Tablelands Community Justice Group in Atherton.
The two organisations met in Atherton late last year to discuss the systemic issues surrounding youth offending, incarceration, community safety and community-led solutions.
“By engaging the community at the local level, we can better understand the challenges to tailor our service delivery to community need and develop more effective solutions that engage youth in rehabilitation,” ATSILS chief executive officer Shane Duffy said.
In a joint statement following the meeting, the groups said addressing these issues required respectful, culturally informed approaches, increased resources for rehabilitation and diversion programs, and systemic changes to reduce reliance on detention for young people.
“Developing stronger relationships with police to foster community-engaged policing, rather than over-policing communities, is a crucial element to this,” they said.
“Local communities must be involved in the solutions.
“Organisations such as the Tablelands Community Justice Group TCJG, which is comprised of local Elders, are uniquely positioned to understand and address cultural and social dynamics within their communities, leading to more effective interventions such as ‘On Country’ Elder-led camps.”
The camps provide opportunities for young people to learn respect, connect with their heritage and understand their cultural identity.
Organisations such as the TCJG were also uniquely positioned address cultural and social dynamics within their communities, leading to more effective interventions.
“Our Elders network plays a crucial role in helping to set our youth on a path to rehabilitation to break the cycle of offending,” TCJG justice coordinator Julie Go Sam said.
Indigenous youth in Queensland are 26 times more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous peers and this continued to spiral, the organisations said.
“Factors such as childhood trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, mental health and substance abuse are the main drivers of offending behaviour” she said.
