Youth Justice: Protecting the rights, safety & wellbeing of young people
Following the release of the Victorian Government’s Youth Justice Bill last month, CMY has examined the Bill in detail and looked at ways it could be strengthened to ensure it prioritises the rights, safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
While we support the intent of Bill and a number of positive elements within it, such as raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12 and legislated timeframe to raise the age to 14; we strongly believe there is room for improvement in certain elements of the Bill for which is there is little or no evidence base. This includes scrapping the electronic monitoring trial, removing police transport powers for 10-11 year olds, and not locking up 16 and 17 year old children in adult prisons.
Acknowledging the over-representation of multicultural young people in the justice system; we also call on the Government to commit to targeted programs that are culturally sensitive and consider child rehabilitation. We strongly believe that making these amendments will result in a Bill that supports children and young people to thrive.
Earlier this month CMY was delighted to announce our TARGET ZER0 project, in partnership with Westjustice, received a much-needed boost in funding from the Paul Ramsay Foundation to continue and expand this critical work over the next 5 years.
This groundbreaking project brings together unique partners from different parts of the community in a focused effort to end the criminalisation of young people aged 10 to 25 in the Brimbank, Wyndham and Melton LGAs, and address the over-representation in the criminal justice system of First Nations young people, multicultural young people, and young people in residential care.
TARGET ZER0 featured on ABC Melbourne’s Conversation Hour this week, with CMY Executive Manager Jemal Ahmet joining a panel to discuss the need for a different approach and the work TARGET ZER0 is doing. Listen to the program.
CMY is also embarking on a new Youth Justice Lived Experience Mentoring Project, working with the Department of Justice and Community Safety and Deakin University, which aims to support young people from South Sudanese and Pasifika backgrounds under youth justice supervision to foster positive lifestyles and develop pro-social identities. Watch this space for updates!
We’re proud of our work in this area, and look forward to utilising our knowledge and experience to support a strengthened Youth Justice Bill – and ultimately, contribute to the long-overdue transformation of Victoria’s youth justice system.