{"id":213631,"date":"2018-07-18T18:12:01","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T08:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=213631"},"modified":"2020-09-24T10:57:43","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T00:57:43","slug":"mixed-reaction-to-youth-justice-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/07\/18\/mixed-reaction-to-youth-justice-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Reaction To Youth Justice Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Child Safety Minister Di Farmer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 18, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early intervention to stop young people going off the rails is the key to cutting youth crime, according to a new report on Queensland\u2019s Youth Justice system.<\/p>\n

The report, prepared by retired former Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson and released last Friday, was welcomed by Amnesty International but received a scathing review from the LNP Opposition (see below).<\/p>\n

Child Safety Minister Di Farmer said the report\u00a0 found the issues facing troubled young people were complex but early intervention could make the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cBob Atkinson\u2019s report shows that we are a much better chance of changing a young person\u2019s behaviour when they are 12 than when they are 27,\u201d Ms Farmer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be tough on the causes of crime, and we need to do it as early in a child\u2019s life as possible, to have a serious impact on youth crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo do that we need to further integrate our police, child safety, health and education responses with other key services to solve problems before they become youth justice issues.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Atkinson\u2019s report will contribute to a new Youth Justice Strategy that will be developed by the end of this year in consultation with stakeholders, community leaders and high-risk young people and their families.<\/p>\n

Mr Atkinson will be joined by Townsville community champion Major-General Stuart Smith and other eminent Queenslanders on a taskforce to examine the report\u2019s recommendations and contribute to the strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot keep doing the same things we have been doing and suddenly expect the results to be different,\u201d Ms Farmer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had promising results already from our early intervention programs, and the recommendations in Bob\u2019s report will help us to get the right balance between reducing crime, holding offenders to account and building a better future for young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Atkinson made 77 recommendations to overhaul the way Queensland deals with young offenders and engages with disadvantaged young people.<\/p>\n

Recommendations in the report included:<\/strong><\/p>\n