Today a Report on Youth Justice produced by Mr Bob Atkinson, former Queensland Police Commissioner and Commissioner on the recently concluded Royal Commission into Institutional Reponses to Child Sexual Abuse was presented to the Honourable Di Farmer MP, Minister for Child Safety, Youth and Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence.
Commissioned by Minister Farmer in February 2018, the report contains 31 individual papers and features 77 recommendations in total. The overarching recommendation of the report is that the Queensland Government adopt a policy position that embraces four key objectives. Termed within the report as the ‘Four Pillars’, these objectives are:
- Intervene early
- Keep children out of court
- Keep children out of custody, and
- Reduce reoffending.
PeakCare welcomes the release of this report. As noted within the report, recently published data shows that 83.1% of children involved with the Queensland youth justice system were known to the child protection system at 30 June 2014. This highlights the obvious intersection that exists between the child protection and youth justice systems that has been of longstanding interest and concern to PeakCare and our Members.
Particularly in light of the intersection that exists between these systems, PeakCare was pleased to have been consulted and given the opportunity to actively contribute to the development of the report. We now look forward to studying its contents and providing additional commentary about its recommendations.
We also look forward to making further constructive contribution to the taskforce of eminent Queenslanders being established to examine the report’s findings and advance the strategies that have been recommended.
PeakCare congratulates Mr Atkinson on his report and commends the Queensland Government for the action it has initiated in promoting well-informed, evidence-based youth justice policy, practice and programs.
To access a full copy of the report, click here.