In December 2023, the Tasmanian Government made a landmark commitment for which it received national recognition.
The commitment? A new pathway for youth justice reform informed by extensive consultations, including with children and young people, as well as the findings of the Commission of Inquiry and data-driven research on international and national evidence-based practice.
The government’s Youth Justice Blueprint 2024-2034 outlines, along with an associated Model of Care, a plan for improving community safety and keeping Tasmanian children and young people out of the youth justice system.
Now, the question must be asked – do we remain committed to delivering this nation-leading justice reform for current and future generations?
Frankly, the messages are mixed.
Recently, in the wake of what had been described by police as “an isolated, relatively small number of incidents” of harmful behaviour displayed by a small number of young people in southern Tasmania, so called ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric quickly came to the fore, fanning elevated levels of community apprehension Statewide.
On April 28, the Mercury quoted Premier Jeremy Rockliff:
The number one agenda item is community safety, and we cannot afford to have people too scared to go and do their shopping in their local area.
“We need safer communities and an increased police presence is one of those actions of which we are committing to.”
Mr Rockliff said “all options were on the table” including Adult Crime, Adult Time laws.
I worry this proposition, where “everything is on the table”, reflects a growing contradictory approach to youth justice in our state.
It’s a contradiction that holds that punitive ‘one size fits all‘ laws, like those implemented recently in Queensland, can comfortably co-exist with reforms prioritising prevention and early intervention, early and lasting diversion and therapeutically based individualised responses.
They can’t.
It’s a contradiction that postures higher levels of incarceration as the panacea to the complex issues that underpin the harmful behaviour we sometimes see in our communities.
They aren’t.
Reaching for one size fits all solutions to complex issues may make for good headlines, providing the illusion of effective action, but that’s all.
We already know we can’t arrest our way out of complex problems. This is what we were told by the Commission of Inquiry.
It’s what we’ve heard again more recently through the Legislative Council’s Inquiry into Adult Imprisonment and Youth Detention. And it’s why evidence from across the globe shows increasing youth incarceration hurts children and communities in the long run.
The Tasmanian Government knows this too.
That’s why it committed to implementing non-criminalising ways of working with children and families, with therapeutic approaches based on individual needs and in collaboration with community.
It has also committed to closing the Ashley Youth Detention Centre and to replacing it with a smaller, purpose-built facility with a therapeutic operating model.
Of course, there’s another group of people who know the current system isn’t working as it should to address underlying causes of offending behaviour – a cohort we very rarely hear from directly when apprehension spills into our social media feeds and onto the front pages of our newspapers.
But I can assure you they are following the public discourse.
As Interim Commissioner, my advocacy is informed by listening to children and young people including those caught up in the youth justice system.
These young people have a clear understanding of the complexities of their circumstances, their vulnerability to exploitation, and the supports they need to set them on the right path.
Reflecting on the recent public debate, one young person was eager to convey that, “not everyone grows up in a family house with safe, positive adults around.”
Another spoke of the systems failures experienced by many young people in the youth justice system, noting “…there’s no support for 10, 11, 12-year-olds out there on the streets. For a lot of young people, you don’t get support until you offend”.
They also asked, “as taxpayers, do you want to pay for youth to be locked away and not actually fix the problem?”
That provocation – the choice between resort to the regular locking up of children for lengthy sentences regardless of their unique circumstances, or holding the course on a commitment to more effective, needs-based ways of approaching complex problems – must focus our efforts.
I know all Tasmanians would agree we want our State to be a place where all our children thrive and have a sense of belonging, and for our communities to be safe for all.
I urge the Government to hold the course and focus meaningful resources and attention on creating the sustained whole of government, whole of community approach to youth justice described by its Blueprint.
Tasmania can lead the nation by doing things our own way, based on what we know works in our communities, with and for our children.
But we must choose, and commit, to that path.
Isabelle Crompton, Interim Commissioner for Children and Young People
Media Contact:
Mark Thomas, M&M Communications
0422 006 732