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Backing greater career opportunities for African Australians
NAB and Jesuit Social Services have today announced they will extend their award-winning African Australian Inclusion Program (AAIP) to Sydney branches for the first time. Jesuit Social Services has also formed partnerships with two other major organisations including John Holland to deliver similar corporate diversity programs. The AAIP has been running at NAB for nine…
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Youth justice reduction targets would save Victoria millions
Ahead of the Victorian State Budget 2018-19, Jesuit Social Services has called on the State Government to disrupt the pipeline to prison by setting targets to reduce re-offending, lowering the number of young people on remand and investing in diversion programs and community services. “Youth crime will be one of the most scrutinized issues in…
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Youth Justice Inquiry Highlights System Failings
The importance of rehabilitating young offenders and understanding the underlying causes of their offending is highlighted in a number of proposals contained in the latest report into Victoria’s youth justice system, endorsing Jesuit Social Services’ view that a therapeutic response is most likely to deliver a safer community. In particular, Jesuit Social Services welcomes the…
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Northern Territory has opportunity to lead the nation in youth justice reform
The Northern Territory Government’s acceptance of all 227 recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory means the Territory has an opportunity to lead the nation in meaningful youth justice reform, says Jesuit Social Services. “The NT Royal Commission, after consulting with young people, their families, the…
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Plans for secure, cottage-style youth justice facilities welcomed
Jesuit Social Services has welcomed the announcement by Minister for Territory Families, Dale Wakefield, of new youth justice facilities in Darwin and Alice Springs. Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards said she was pleased to see the NT Government acting quickly and decisively to improve facilities found to be unfit by the Royal Commission into the Protection and…
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Coalition’s plan to marginalise offenders will increase reoffending risk
A proposed Serious Sex Offender Public Register, which the Victorian Opposition says it will establish if it wins this year’s state election, is likely to increase the risk of people convicted of sexual offences reoffending says Jesuit Social Services. “Law and order will be one of the most prominent topics in the lead-up to the Victorian election and it…
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Federal Government must help fund Royal Commission outcomes
Having established a Royal Commission which uncovered the depth of the mistreatment and abuse of young people in the Northern Territory’s youth detention system, the Federal Government must now adequately fund the final report’s recommendations, says Jesuit Social Services. “The landmark final report and recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of…
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New prison beds at odds with decreasing crime rates
The Victorian Government’s announcement that more than 470 beds will be added to the state’s prison system, at a cost of $345 million over three years, is a short-sighted decision that will not create safer communities says Jesuit Social Services. “Adding new beds to the prison system is at odds with data published by the…
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Ombudsman report shows women with complex needs need better support
A report tabled by the Victorian Ombudsman today shows that a better response to women with disabilities and cognitive impairments in the criminal justice system is overdue, says Jesuit Social Services. The report, Implementing OPCAT in Victoria: report and inspection of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, contains a range of findings spanning a week-long independent…
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Landmark youth justice report a chance for meaningful change
The watershed final report of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory, handed down today, is an opportunity to shift from punitive responses to diversion, rehabilitation and therapeutic approaches, says Jesuit Social Services. “The horrific treatment of young people in Darwin’s youth detention system sparked this Royal Commission,…