Victoria will join Scotland and London as a world-leader in reducing violent youth crime through early intervention.
The Allan Labor Government will invest an initial $19.8 million to establish the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), and a further $7.7 million for youth mentors, including the first VRU program to connect kids with reformed offenders.
Our VRU is based directly on the Violence Reduction Unit model in Glasgow and London, which successfully reduced violent crime over time by targeting the problems early. It will report directly to the Premier and:
- use police intelligence and data to find and address the root causes of violent crime
- coordinate all existing crime prevention programs across Government
- take a different approach, and engage directly with the community and young people
- develop and deliver new programs to address gaps and emerging crime trends - with the first VRU program about connecting at-risk kids with mentors who are former youth offenders now living positive lives
This is the fourth major reform announced in Victoria's Serious Consequences, Early Interventions plan to reduce violent youth crime by reinforcing the boundaries for children - with strong guidance to keep them on track, and serious consequences when they do wrong.
The Violence Reduction Unit model achieved "radical change" in the UK
When children commit brazen, violent crimes they should face serious consequences in the justice system, and with Adult Time for Violent Crime, they will. But there are no easy solutions to youth crime, and the best approach is always to stop crime before it starts. That's why we have looked to Scotland and London for the answer.
The first Violence Reduction Unit was set up in Glasgow in 2005. According to the Guardian UK, the Scottish VRU achieved "radical change". Now funded at $AU2.2 million per year, it has seen a 60 per cent reduction in violent crime, with the greatest reduction taking place among younger age groups.
A VRU was also set up in London in 2018. Its celebrated director, Lib Peck, spelled out the Unit's role clearly: "We believe violence is preventable, not inevitable. We listen to local people and work alongside communities to deliver change, reduce violence and support young people and families."
Since it was established, it has delivered over 400,000 opportunities and activities to disrupt violence, resulting in a 31 per cent drop in homicide and a 28 per cent fall in knife crime with injury among young people. A UK study found these programs prevented more than 3,000 hospital admissions for violent injury in England and Wales.
The VRU is our early intervention solution - for the long-term
Victoria has crime prevention programs, but they aren't all data-driven or linked up under the one tent, which leaves gaps. We also need bold new programs to tackle the new ways that children are offending getting lured into violent crime. These programs must involve the whole community, including young people - not just government.
In short, we have a crime prevention bureaucracy, but what we need is a crime prevention community. That's where the Violence Reduction Unit comes in - to work with schools, employers, mental health services and more.
With $19.8 million in new funding, the VRU will start immediately. Current Youth Justice Commissioner Andrea Davidson will serve as Interim CEO.
The Commissioner will recruit a permanent CEO with experience in working with communities to solve complex social problems. She will also set up a community reference group, bringing community organisations and leaders together to guide the Government on the key challenges and opportunities for the VRU.
The VRU will report directly to the Premier. As a standalone administrative office, it will be similar to an infrastructure delivery authority - with the ability to work independently, engage directly and visibly with the community, and manage the delivery of multiple complex projects in a coordinated way.
The VRU has five key principles in its long-term fight to reduce youth crime:
- Taking a preventative and public health approach to address the root causes of violence
- Coordinating across Government and local services so crime prevention works better, with fewer gaps
- Using data and intelligence to target its interventions when and where they're needed most
- Investing in and delivering the programs that are proven to turn people away from crime
- Engaging directly with the Victorian public and the communities most affected by violence
It will operate across Government to tackle and disrupt violence, including in education, health, mental health, victim support, housing, police, the community sector and the justice system. Nothing is off-limits.
Above all, it will be a disruptor - disrupting the gangs and patterns of violence, and also disrupting the old ways of doing things - and it will be community-driven, relying on the support of locals and giving them a way to participate.
The first VRU program connects at-risk kids with mentors who have turned their lives around
We want to do things differently - and the first program the VRU will back is a world-leading model where at-risk children, some as young as eight, are identified and paired with mentors from 16 Yards.
Lived-experience mentoring is not new, but organisations like 16 Yards have taken it to the next level under co-founders Shayne Hood and Dr Stephane Shepherd and their incredible team of mentors.
Lived-experienced mentors were once troubled youths or sentenced youth offenders who have turned their lives around. They are all trained and supervised consultants, all with a different story, who are chosen to suit the child.
The Government - through the VRU - will provide $7.7 million for mentoring, including for 16 Yards and the Centre for Multicultural Youth. That means more children under the wing of positive and relatable role models.
It's exactly the type of disruptive, community-based program that the VRU will support, with more to come.
As stated by Premier Jacinta Allan
"When children commit brazen, violent crimes they should face serious consequences. But there are no easy solutions, and the best approach is to intervene early and stop crime before it starts. We're doing both."
"A Violence Reduction Unit worked overseas to reduce violent crime - and we're bringing it to Victoria. They call it the Scottish model, but in the years to come, I want them to call it the Victorian model."
"When I listen to the 16 Yards mentors and the incredible things they've achieved following their time in youth justice - in faith, fitness, business, community and more - it all makes sense. Violence is preventable, not inevitable."
As stated by Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny
"Working right alongside communities, the VRU will help keep young people in school, open pathways into work, strengthen families and intervene early when there are clear signs a child is at risk."
As stated by Minister for Community Safety Anthony Carbines
"We have a range of successful community crime prevention programs - what we now need is to develop a Violence Reduction Unit of our own, to ensure that our programs are all coordinated, responsive and community-based."
As stated by Minister for Youth Justice Enver Erdogan
"Lived-experience mentors show what's possible when young people are supported by people who have walked in their shoes. That's the type of intervention that changes lives, reduces offending and keeps the community safe."
