A new Community Youth Diversion program is being delivered in Groote Eylandt to hold young people accountable for their offending and get them back on the right path.
Bush Fit Mob have been funded $540,000 over three years to deliver the Community Youth Diversion Program for young people aged 10-17 years old in a number of communities, including Alyangula, Angurugu, Milyakburra and Umbakumba.
The immediate consequences these young people will be involved in, include:
- community service – picking up rubbish and gardening;
- pathway opportunities – training and work experience; and
- community engagement – on-country cultural activities.
These programs aim to reintegrate young people into training and work experience opportunities to steer them away from future offending.
Community Youth Diversion aims to direct young people away from the formal youth justice system, by helping to build strategies so they don't reoffend and providing services that improve their chances of a positive future.
Supporting young people to participate in youth diversion facilitates an avenue to take responsibility for their actions and behaviour, while supporting them to learn new skills and get back on the right path for a brighter and safer future.
Quotes from the Minister for Territory Families and Urban Housing, Kate Worden:
"Community led solutions are the best solutions.
"Creating more on country youth diversion will provide better outcomes for our young people, while also making productive immediate consequences available.
"By providing youth diversion, we aim to divert children and young people away from the youth justice system, intervening early and providing opportunities for these young people to understand the consequences of their actions and repair the harm their offending may have caused."
