Smart Justice for Young People

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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we operate, the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Bunurong Peoples of the Kulin Nation. We extend this acknowledgement to all First Nations’ Peoples and pay our respects to their Elders past and present and acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded.

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Strengthen the child and family services system by:

  • Providing adequate and secure funding to providers so they can meet demand and provide the highest levels of therapeutic, cultural and gender identity informed care.
  • Delivering a substantial increase in resources for the sector to provide early intervention, and family preservation and reunification.
  • Strengthening investment, testing and evaluation of programs (such as Putting Families First) to develop a whole of family model of care to support children, young people and their families when they need it, breaking the cycle of disadvantage and help prevent children and young people entering and re-entering the criminal justice system.
  • Supporting self-determination, with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations empowered with more funding to work proactively with Aboriginal children and their families to prevent them from becoming system-involved (1).


References:

  1. This involves harmonisation and integration with other relevant key reforms underway eg. Mental Health and Family Violence. See also compatible recommendations from ‘Smart Justice for Women: Policy Platform 2022-2024’ (Report, Version 1: January 2023), at 11 regarding the Support System for women at risk of criminalisation.