Jury out on bail houses

AT A cost of $ 1.8 million for a maximum 11 young people at a time, the Queensland Government’s bail house scheme in Townsville has been controversial since it first started at the beginning of this year.

Young criminals who are on remand and aged between 14 and 17 can be placed in these bail homes as part of an attempt to reduce the number of youths in detention if they have nowhere else to go.

Data has revealed that 81 per cent of youths at Cleveland Youth Detention Centre are on remand.

The bail houses are staffed full- time and segregated by gender with the courts deciding if the facilities are suitable for individuals who are awaiting trial or sentence.

The houses are in the West End and Mundingburra and were purchased for $ 1,130,000 before $ 649,000 was spent on refitting them. Residents living in nearby streets were unimpressed by the change of use of these premises and were obviously worried about the potential for crime in their neighbourhoods.

Youths are subject to conditions as part of their stay in the bail houses, including curfews and bag checks, but it’s difficult to see how strictly these conditions can be policed.

Unfortunately, last week a female youth went AWOL from the bail house before becoming part of a crime spree in Townsville.

The issue with the bail houses, which was raised when they were first announced, is that they put the welfare of criminals above the law- abiding community.

Earlier this year, Child Safety, Youth and Women Minister Di Farmer defended the scheme by saying the bail houses played “an important role” helping people to find “better options” in life, but she misses the point that if these youths are able to come and go as they please then there is a risk they commit further crime in the city.

Any policy regarding youth crime needs to focus on protecting the public first and foremost.