Media releases Archives - Page 23 of 29

Education funding gives children chance to flourish
- 28 April 2017
An additional $1 million towards repairs and maintenance at remote homeland learning centres, announced as part of the Northern Territory budget, will provide young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have greater opportunities to flourish. Jared Sharp, Jesuit Social Services’ General Manager in the Northern Territory, says the funds will provide a foundation for success…
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…
Investments for young people will support meaningful change
- 21 April 2017
The Northern Territory Government’s $1.75 million investment into after-hours youth services in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, announced today, will help to create cohesive and ultimately safe communities, says Jesuit Social Services. “The best way to support kids to grow up to become productive adults is to connect them with positive activities and opportunities,” says…
Mental health funding welcomed
- 18 April 2017
An expansion of mental health support for people in, or at risk of entering, the criminal justice system will ultimately help to create safer communities, says Jesuit Social Services. The Victorian Government has announced its 2017/18 Budget will provide $43.9 million in capital funding to expand Thomas Embling Hospital, and $28.6 million over four years…
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…

Media releases

Donate to our Summer Appeal