Mount Isa loses 50 years of Youth Justice experience in 12 months as union warns workforce shortages threaten efforts to reduce reoffending.
Queensland's efforts to reduce youth reoffending are being undermined by a workforce retention problem, with experienced Youth Justice staff leaving for better conditions elsewhere in the public sector while regional service centres struggle to fill frontline positions, Together says.
The union has revealed that Mount Isa's Youth Justice Service Centre lost employees with a combined 50 years of Youth Justice experience in just 12 months, while three experienced caseworkers left the Hervey Bay office for roles with Education Queensland over the same period.
At its worst, Mount Isa was operating with four casework positions unavailable, while the service centre also experienced a prolonged Team Leader vacancy and months-long shortages across frontline and specialist positions. The centre also lost two unfunded positions it had relied on for years when they ceased in July.
Together Assistant Secretary Dee Spink said the workforce losses raised serious questions about the Government's ability to sustain the community-based supervision and rehabilitation services central to its youth crime response.
"You cannot reduce youth reoffending without the experienced workers who supervise young people, work with their families and deliver the programs designed to change behaviour," Ms Spink said.
"These are the people responsible for helping young people comply with court orders, addressing the factors driving their offending and supporting them to make different choices.
"When experienced workers leave, they take years of knowledge, skills and relationships with them. The remaining staff are left to manage the workload while new employees are recruited and trained. But those vacancies aren't being filled."
Together said a significant factor in the retention problem was a long-standing disparity in job classification and career pathways between Youth Justice and other department and non-government positions.
Youth Justice caseworkers typically commence at PO2, while Child Safety Officers commence at PO3, despite both roles involving complex case management of vulnerable young people and families. It takes youth justice workers around five years on the job to be eligible to apply for a career progression.
The union said Queensland is losing experienced Youth Justice practitioners to other parts of its own public sector, where they could access better pay and career progression.
In Hervey Bay, three experienced caseworkers left for AO6 Education Queensland positions within 12 months, reportedly citing higher pay, lower caseloads and better resources.
Together delegate Karlie Markham, from Mt Isa, said the classification gap meant Youth Justice was training experienced staff only to lose them.
"We invest years in developing experienced Youth Justice staff, only to watch them leave for better classified positions elsewhere in the same public sector," Ms Markham said.
"Those employees don't suddenly become more skilled or take on greater responsibility the day they change departments. What changes is how their experience and capability are recognised."
Ms Spink said the Government's approach to industrial negotiations was adding to workers' frustration, with Youth Justice employees facing threats of lockouts if they participated in work bans.
"The Government says youth crime is a priority, but it is struggling to retain the experienced workers who help prevent young people from reoffending," Ms Spink said.
"Threatening workers with lockouts when they take industrial action over their conditions is a disproportionate response to a workforce that is already under enormous pressure."
Together is calling on the Queensland Government to address workforce retention, classifications and career progression as part of negotiations for a new Child Safety and Youth Justice Agreement.
"Youth Justice workers deserve fair recognition for the complexity of their work and a career pathway that gives them a reason to stay, and that can be achieved without taking anything away from other workers," Ms Spink said.
"The Government has made reducing youth crime a priority. Retaining the workers responsible for supervising young offenders and helping them turn their lives around must be part of that commitment.
"Community safety doesn't end with an arrest or a court appearance. It depends on what happens next, and whether there are experienced workers available to help young people stop offending."
