June 6, 2012
The State Government is asking not-for-profit groups in the South Burnett to put up their hands to provide community service projects for offenders.
Police Minister Jack Dempsey said offenders on community service orders had provided more than 53,218 hours of work in the North Coast region this financial year, worth a total of $1.064 million.
Areas which have benefited included Kingaroy, Caboolture and Gympie.
The Queensland Corrective Services department is now looking for community service projects at Cherbourg, Kadanga, Imbil, Tin Can Bay, Dundowran, Bidwell and Boonaroo.
“Every day offenders are involved in a variety of community service projects which include assisting with food preparation, laundry services, maintenance, gardening and cleaning tasks,” Mr Dempsey said.
“All of this service is unpaid work that an offender is ordered to do by a court, or some people can apply to do community service instead of paying a fine.
“These projects allow offenders to make reparation to the community they committed the crime against and it can also help them turn their lives around.”
Mr Dempsey said community service projects were a great way for offenders to develop social contacts, re-establish work habits and create positive attitudes.
“It is important for us to focus on rehabilitating offenders to prevent them from reoffending,” he said.
“We want to make sure that they make a positive contribution to their communities and work towards becoming productive citizens.
“I encourage not-for-profit organisations who want to benefit from unpaid labour to help these offenders get their lives back on track by nominating community service projects.”.
For more information contact Queensland Corrective Services on (07) 3239-0606.
