Young people will be targeted early to help stop them committing crime in the first place under a revamped Townsville Stronger Communities led by the Northern Region's top police officer, Townsville based Assistant Commissioner Mark Wheeler, and Youth Justice Deputy Director General Philip Brooks, who grew up in Townsville.
The move to a revamped and refreshed Townsville Stronger Communities follows a comprehensive review informed by open and frank discussions with individuals working in Townville's youth justice response.
The candid feedback and assessments helped inform the new, more highly targeted strategies.
Those strategies will underpin the work of Townsville Stronger Communities which will be renamed the Townsville Stronger Communities Early Action Group.
Reforms include:
- Establishing a strong leadership team led by Assistant Commissioner Wheeler and Deputy Director General Brooks,
- Revitalising the focus of the Group with a more targeted purpose aimed squarely at early intervention,
- Ensuring consistent representation from all relevant government agencies,
- Establishing a Community Reference Group with membership from a broad range of stakeholders including young people, First Nations people, and other levels of government,
- Improving information sharing arrangements between government agencies, and
- Enhancing transparency with the public regarding the Group's objectives and activities.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the reset to Townsville's Stronger Communities approach should make a real difference on the ground.
"We always want to do things better, and with a strong leadership team and a clearly defined purpose, the revamped Townsville Stronger Early Action Group can deliver better outcomes for young people," the Minister said.
"We've put in place the strong laws, like a presumption against bail, to target the hardcore recidivist offenders.
"But we must also continue to focus on early interventions for kids and their families to give them a better chance of leading productive lives."
Minister for Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs, Leanne Linard, welcomed the focus on early intervention.
"Intervening early is a key pillar of our youth justice reforms," Ms Linard said.
"Evidence clearly shows that providing vulnerable young people with support when they start to go down the wrong path reduces the chances of criminal and anti-social behaviour later on.
"Many young people and families have already benefited from the action group connecting them to services that can assist with everything from schooling to homelessness, and I look forward to seeing more of this work in the future."
The contributions from these individuals were provided in a spirit of candour and openness. While those contributions must be kept confidential to respect the spirit in which they were given, in the interests of openness and transparency the government is sharing the reforms that flow from the report.
