Building Capacity of Indigenous Young Offenders: Community Partnerships

• NCJ Number: 194160
• Author(s): Michael Currie
• Date Published: October 2001
• Length: 7 pages
• Corporate Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: This paper was presented at the Best Practice in Corrections for Indigenous People Conference held in October 2001; see NCJ-194157-159 and NCJ-194161-162 for supporting papers. Downloaded 02/05/2002

Annotation

This paper examines initiatives of the Queensland Youth Justice for capacity building of Indigenous offenders through culturally appropriate interventions.

Abstract

In an attempt to address the overrepresentation of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system, the Juvenile Justice Act of 1992 recognized the importance of families of children and communities, specifically Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with service provisions that included: rehabilitating children who committed offenses, and reintegrating children who commit offenses into the community. This paper discussed three Youth Justice Services established in 1999 in Queensland, Townsville/Thuringowa, Ipswich and Logan City. These services provide specialist services for young people involved with the law. The intent is to divert young people away from further offending, and address overrepresentation of Indigenous youth from re-offending. However, these services must be culturally appropriate reflecting the values and aspirations of the community in which the young person lives. To accomplish this, an increase in the number of Indigenous staff within the Queensland youth justice system was attained. The Indigenous staff enhance and advocate service provisions directly impacting the Indigenous families. These positions build the capacity of government to increase the development of policy, program options, and consultative mechanisms enhancing participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, their families, and their community in the rehabilitation and reintegration process. In order for programs to be culturally appropriate, they must be unique and have a foundation meaningful for the young person, as far as who they are and where they come from. The underlying issues that put young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals in jeopardy with the law must be dealt with to reduce the overrepresentation. References