YOUNG offenders will be sentenced to youth boot camps from early next year in an attempt to combat escalating crime rates across the state, Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie announced yesterday.
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The $2 million youth boot camp would be trialed in Cairns and an early intervention youth boot camp on the Gold Coast. A spokesperson for the Attorney-General said that if the trials were successful, the program would be rolled-out across the state, including Mount Isa.
Member for Mount Isa Robbie Katter said boot camps would only be effective if they were part of a "holistic approach".
"Juvenile crime costs our north west community nearly $5 million in reparations, wages and medical care each year," he said.
"Punishment and providing a strong deterrent are important, and it's hoped these trials go towards rehabilitating these troubled teens back into the community, safely and with a better future for themselves."
It is understood the two-year trial would give 80 young people an opportunity for rehabilitation.
A recent Australian Institute of Criminology report identified Mount Isa and other neighbouring towns such as Cloncurry and Doomadgee as having high concentrations of juvenile offenders.
The youth boot camps would be designed to meet the needs of each young offender and would hold people accountable for their actions.
"Young offenders will spend a month in a boot camp centre, which will include physical training, health and substance abuse programs," Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said.
"They will then spend between two and five months, under strict supervision in the community and participate in activities with their family."
Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie said addressing difficulties within the family was crucial to reducing youth crimes.
- SOPHIE?COUSINS
