How The WA Government Is Working Toward Breaking The Cycle
Researched and drafted by WAJA’s Advocacy Team.
2 weeks ago, the WA Government announced $40 million in funding has been committed to a comprehensive package to help break the cycle of youth offending in the Kimberley.
This package will include:
An on-country residential facility to provide an alternative to detention and a plan to develop other safe place proposals
Expanding the State Government’s Target 120 program in the Kimberley
Extending the Kimberley Schools Project to keep young people engaged within the education system
Funding towards Operation Regional Shield, which will enable police to deploy additional resources to parts of regional WA as required
Boost to youth night patrols
Intensive support for vulnerable families
Grants for local projects to engage youth and improve community safety
While the WA Government’s commitment to alternative on-country programs is fantastic, many people in these communities agree that there needs to be multiple on-country sites across the State.
Past and Current Programs
In 2018, the McGowan Government successfully launched the Target 120 early intervention program to support young people between aged 10 and 14 who are at risk of recidivism. This program, which has plans to be expanded to other parts of the State with the newly-announced funding, has proven to be a moderately successful resource for supporting young people who have had experience in the criminal justice system. However, programs like these should be implemented before children even have contact with the criminal justice system to protect them from the many proven negative long-term effects resulting from incarceration at such an early age. Children as young as 10 should not be incarcerated in the first place, and greater support and early intervention programs should be implemented instead.
WAJA’s Mid-West Youth Skills Project
Last year, WAJA produced an evidence-based paper scoping out the potential for a similar alternative program to support young people who are vulnerable to becoming engaged in the criminal justice system in WA’s Mid-West region. The major difference between WAJA’s proposal and the current funding is that WAJA’s proposal focuses on building important and necessary practical and non-practical skills to improve employment outcomes and increase literacy and numeracy rates, therefore also reducing the chance of reoffending.
The Mid-West Youth Skills Project proposal is region-specific and also stresses greater mental and emotional support for at-risk youth. While the Government’s new plans are a great step in the right direction, holistic and practical support systems are vital to developing impactful programs that are beneficial as a first response to youth offending and incarceration. WAJA hopes that the Government continues to invest in solutions like these.
References
Vanessa Mills, Jessica Hayes, and Eddie Williams, ‘WA's troubled youth to be given chance to mend fences and ways on cattle station,’ ABC News (online, 6 May 2022) <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-06/wa-young-offenders-to-be-sent-out-bush/101043842>
Government of Western Australia, ‘$40.4 million package to tackle juvenile crime in the Kimberley’ (Media statement, 3 May 2022) <https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2022/05/40-4-million-dollars-package-to-tackle-juvenile-crime-in-the-Kimberley.aspx>
WA Justice Association, ‘Report: Mid-West Youth Skills Programme’ (2021) <https://www.wajustice.org.au/mid-west-youth-skills