Kids finding a new justice Two out of three avoid trouble

NEW figures have revealed the success rate of Townsville’s restorative justice program in the fight to combat crime, with two out of every three children staying out of trouble.

The Townsville Bulletin obtained Department of Youth Justice statistics that showed just 18 distinct children out of 56 who participated in the conference in the 2019 financial year reoffended within the next six months.

The restorative justice program is a simple concept, where a juvenile offender meets their victim.

The goal is for the offender and those affected by the crime to discuss what happened and what can be done to start making things right.

Child Safety, Youth and Women Minister Di Farmer said it was a powerful concept.

“On average, 77 per cent of young people who complete a restorative justice conference either do not reoffend or show a decrease in the magnitude of their reoffending within six months,” she said.

“That’s because restorative justice holds young offenders directly accountable to victims of crime, makes them face their victims, and reduces offending,” Ms Farmer said.

“Although we’ve seen a 30 per cent drop in the number of young people committing offences, there is still a small hard-core group of repeat young offenders who commit 44 per cent of youth crime.”

A long-term study into restorative justice in the ACT found juvenile offenders who had gone through the restorative justice process were less likely than their prison-bound peers to have been arrested 10 years on.

The research by the Australian Institute of Criminology, in conjunction with Australian National University, found that after 10 years, an estimated 54 per cent of restorative justice participants and 64 per cent of non-participants had been apprehended for at least one offence.

Despite the success, the statistics showed that those who reoffended kept up their criminal ways.

Half of the children who reoffended committed three or more offences in the six months after the conference.

The latest figures for the recent financial year have not been released yet, but the Department of Youth Justice stated that 38 children had taken part in the program up until April.

The numbers come after the LNP announced its crime crackdown plan this week, which includes scrapping the State Government’s youth bail houses and bringing back breach of bail as an offence.

The bold plan was met well by some Townsville business owners, but Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper sledged the proposal as a “dismal failure”.