Five youth justice workers to stop local crime

The first intake of Youth Outreach Workers will graduate tomorrow.

The 39 Youth Outreach Workers will start work in regions from next week.

Seventeen will be based in Darwin and Palmerston, 13 in Alice Springs, five in Katherine, two in Tennant Creek and two in Nhulunbuy.

Minister for Territory Families Dale Wakefield said recruiting continues for extra workers in Katherine and also Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs.

The Youth Outreach Workers were a key part of the $18.2 million overhaul of the youth justice system announced in February and will be responsible for working with young people who have been in contact with the legal system or at risk of doing so.

Ms Wakefield said the graduation of the Youth Outreach Workers signalled the biggest overhaul of the youth justice system in Territory history.

“We have listened and have taken action to create safer and stronger communities by investing in more frontline staff and improved training right across the Territory,” Ms Wakefield said.

“These workers will help connect the work of NGOs, Northern Territory Police, schools and families to provide individualised support for young people at risk of offending.

“They are a key part of improving bail support for young people to increase accountability whilst also helping to get their lives on the right path and stop them from becoming an adult offender – something I know every Territorian supports.

“The team have completed three weeks’ of training which took a trauma informed approach to working with young people at risk of offending or moving towards rehabilitation.

“We are taking an evidence-based approach to tackling youth crime that we have seen implemented successfully in jurisdictions right across the globe.

Ms Wakefield said these Youth Outreach Workers will work with youth through diversions programs and after-hours activities to stop crime before it even happens, as well as providing individualised support to young people out of detention to ensure they don’t reoffend.

“Government shares the concern of our communities that the frequency and impact of youth crime has increased in recent times – providing clear evidence that there is a lot of work to be done to break the cycle of crime,” Ms Wakefield said.

“There is no quick and easy solution to fixing our broken youth justice system – if there was, we would have taken it. Territorians want us to get this right and we need to get this right.”

The Youth Outreach Workers will initially be co-located with government departments and NGOs for practical coordination of services, working alongside NGOs to utilise existing programs and establishing new initiatives.

Minister Wakefield said the Youth Outreach Workers will enhance the implementation of the Territory Labor Government’s additional $1.75 million announced in Budget 2017 to go towards after-hours youth services in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek.

“We are undertaking a complete overhaul of how governments have previously dealt with the issue of youth justice – moving from a fragmented and disconnected system to one that takes a coordinated approach from the ground up,” Ms Wakefield said.

“One of the first things we did on entering government was deliver Machinery of Government changes to move youth detention to the Department of Territory Families; acknowledging that criminal justice is not a ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to dealing with young and adult offenders.

“We’ve changed our approach from the highest level of government right through to the individualised support on the ground – delivering a youth justice system that focuses on diversion and rehabilitation and will deliver results.”

The $18.2 million overhaul of the system announced in February also saw: