Media releases Archives - Page 13 of 30

Youth remand court will ease pressure on youth detention system
- 24 April 2017
A new youth remand court, which will ‘fast-track’ the cases of many children currently held in detention unsentenced, will ease the pressure on Victoria’s youth detention system according to Jesuit Social Services. “The pressure on Victoria’s youth detention system has been clear in recent months. We’ve seen a series of incidents, including one in November…
Territory can’t revert to punitive approach in dealing with vulnerable young people
- 12 April 2017
Jesuit Social Services says the majority of young people in youth detention should not be punished with more severe security restrictions for the actions of a few, following an incident in which two boys escaped from Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. “Nobody wants to read news of two young people on remand escaping a detention…
Mandatory sentences won’t improve community safety
- 11 April 2017
The introduction of mandatory sentences for a range of offences, proposed by Victorian Opposition leader Mathew Guy, will not improve community safety according to Jesuit Social Services. Under the proposed legislation, to be introduced if Opposition leader Mathew Guy is elected in November 2018, mandatory prison sentences would be applicable to 11 crimes where the…
Royal Commission interim report reveals failings of NT’s youth justice system
- 3 April 2017
The interim report of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory has shown how the Territory’s youth detention system has further entrenched the issues behind youth crime, says Jesuit Social Services. The report tabled last week reveals the failings of the system, in particular Don Dale, after an…
Isolation of young people undermines community safety
- 23 March 2017
The use of isolation in Victoria’s youth justice facilities is counter-productive and risks entrenching rather than correcting poor behaviour, says Jesuit Social Services, following a new report by the Commissioner for Children and Young People. The report into isolation, separation and lockdown practices tabled in Parliament today found that isolation was imposed at least nine…
Horror revelations from Barwon Prison show we’re going the wrong way to fix the system
- 17 February 2017
Jesuit Social Services says Victoria’s besieged youth justice system is heading in the direction of the Northern Territory before the Royal Commission was announced, following new revelations from the Human Rights Law Centre about the treatment of young people in the adult Barwon Prison. “Less than a year ago the nation was rightly horrified by…
Relocating children and young people to adult prison is no magic fix
- 15 February 2017
News of another incident involving young people at Barwon Prison is evidence that detaining children in an adult prison does not improve community safety, says Jesuit Social Services. The incident at Barwon Prison on Monday evening, which involved Corrections Victoria emergency response staff, followed a second major incident in January in which a 16-year old…
Investment into Group Conferencing will create safer communities
- 9 February 2017
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the Northern Territory Government’s $18.2 million annual investment of a suite of measures that aim to prevent young people from offending and prevent re-offending among young people who have contact with the justice system. The investment includes the funding of a Youth Justice Group Conferencing pilot program, to be operated by…
Adult prison is unequivocally unfit for children
- 9 February 2017
Jesuit Social Services has thrown its support behind the Human Rights Law Centre’s fresh legal challenge against the detention of children in Barwon Prison. “The Government’s decision late last year to detain vulnerable young children in the youth justice system was a major step backwards. Less than a year after the abuse and neglect of…
Transfer of youth justice to Department of Justice counter-productive to community safety
- 6 February 2017
The Victorian Government’s decision to transfer the responsibility of youth justice from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to the Department of Justice will undermine community safety in the long run, says Jesuit Social Services. “We are all concerned by the recent images we have seen of young people committing serious and violent…