Media releases Archives - Page 27 of 32

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…
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…