Media releases Archives - Page 24 of 29

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…
Addressing root causes of crime key to tackling youth crime
- 12 January 2017
A commitment to address the root causes of youth offending must be present in any conversation about how to tackle youth crime, says Jesuit Social Services. “Youth crime in the Northern Territory has been in the national spotlight since Four Corners exposed the cruel and inhumane treatment of children and young people in Don Dale…
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…

Media releases

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