Media releases Archives - Page 14 of 30

Serious concerns raised about Victorian Government’s decision to re-gazette Barwon Prison’s Grevillea Unit
- 30 December 2016
Jesuit Social Services is very concerned about the Victorian Government’s decision to re-gazette the Grevillea Unit at Barwon Prison as a youth detention facility after both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled against this. “If we have come to the point where this option is all the Government has to fall…
Statement regarding use of Barwon prison to house young offenders
- 22 December 2016
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision that the Victorian Government’s housing of young offenders at Barwon Prison is unlawful. We commend the efforts of the Human Rights Law Centre and Fitzroy Legal Service who have valiantly fought for the rights of vulnerable young people since the Government transferred these young people to Barwon…
Offending rate remains steady but prison costs spike by almost $1 billion
- 19 December 2016
Despite the rate of offenders in Australia remaining steady over the past five years, the national imprisonment rate has jumped by an alarming 25 per cent – resulting in a staggering spike in the cost of prisons by almost a billion dollars (to a total of $3.8 billion) during the same period. The analysis is…
Expansion of youth justice bail services welcomed
- 6 December 2016
Jesuit Social Services today welcomed a number of initiatives to strengthen Victoria’s Youth Justice system – such as the expansion of the Central After Hours Bail Placement Services and Youth Justice Bail Supervision – and called on the Andrews government to continue investing in both supervision and support. “We have been advocating for an expansion…
Statement regarding the transfer of young people to Barwon adult prison
- 28 November 2016
Jesuit Social Services resolutely believes that no child should be held in an adult prison facility. We accept the need to find alternative housing for a number of young people while the facilities at Parkville are repaired but the alternative must offer appropriate services and conditions to support and rehabilitate young people. The solution must…
Youth offenders must be treated in a manner consistent with their age
- 17 November 2016
Jesuit Social Services has warned the Government that its move to transfer 40 children and young people to a unit at Barwon Prison could be counter-productive unless strict conditions are followed and the arrangement is brought to an end as soon as possible. The organisation acknowledged that a temporary solution is necessary in the light…
Child Protection Week shines spotlight on link between trauma and criminal activity
- 9 September 2016
Evidence of clear links between involvement with the Child Protection system and involvement with the criminal justice system highlights the need for greater support to prevent vulnerable young people from a lifetime of cycling in and out of prison, says Jesuit Social Services. To mark National Child Protection Week, Jesuit Social Services has completed a…
Prison is no place for primary school aged children
- 1 September 2016
Queensland leads the country in locking up 10- and 11-year old children, but the incarceration of primary school aged children is a national shame that must cease immediately by raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12, says Jesuit Social Services. “A new report by Amnesty International Australia has highlighted a number of serious concerns…
New legislation will not create safer communities
- 31 August 2016
Legislation introduced this week by the Victorian Government to create new offences, penalties and minimum sentences for carjacking and home invasions fails to create safer communities, says Jesuit Social Services. “The introduction of new offences is not supported by crime statistics which actually show the crime rate is falling in Victoria,” says Jesuit Social Services…
Indigenous incarceration rates require urgent rethink
- 26 August 2016
Jesuit Social Services has urged the Federal Government to commit to justice targets to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system, in light of a new report that outlines that the country’s Indigenous incarceration rate has risen by 52 per cent over the past decade. The report,…

Media releases

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