This $17 million investment will see further bail support services rolled out to Townsville, Cairns, Mount Isa, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Toowoomba and remote South West, the South West Brisbane Corridor, Beenleigh and across South East Queensland while support in other locations will be supplied on a case-by-case basis as the need arises.

Minister for Youth Di Farmer said the range of initiatives included new bail support and legal advocacy services that commenced this month at several locations across Queensland.

“Last year the Palaszczuk Labor Government released our state’s first youth Justice Strategy,” Ms Farmer said.

“The community expects young people to be accountable for their actions, and so do we. The community also doesn’t want to see young people reoffending.

“Most of the young people in detention in Queensland are on remand. We know that if they go into detention, they are more likely to reoffend," she said.

The government has put in place a range of bail support and legal advocacy initiatives from the middle of 2018, which have supported hundreds of young people already to comply with their bail conditions.

Ms Farmer said for a lot of these kids, it’s hard to comply with their bail conditions without some support – without that support, releasing kids on bail can be almost like setting them up to fail.

“Bail support services provide the support that’s needed for young people to do what they need to do to meet the requirements of their bail and stay out of detention.

“It may be linking them with mental health or drug and alcohol support, with transport assistance, or simply encouragement to stay on track.

“The way forward for Youth Justice in Queensland will be based on what works, and there’s good evidence to show that these kinds of services work to keep young people out of detention," she said.

Legal Aid Queensland who will help deliver a state-wide legal advocacy service.

The legal advocacy service will receive $3.1 million investment to provide support that young people can readily and easily access the help they need, including legal representation and bail applications.

Ms Farmer said they want to keep delivering ways to keep communities safer and reduce youth reoffending across the state, and to prevent them from spending time in detention where they are almost guaranteed to reoffend.

“Our Youth Justice Strategy outlines ways to help us do just that – protect communities and break the youth offending cycle.

“An Action Plan will be developed in the first half of 2019 to give effect to the vision outlined in the Strategy," she said.

Ms Farmer said the Queensland Government has already made other new investments to boost support for young offenders to get back on track.

“The service will refer a young person to the right people who can help with things like mental health or drug and alcohol support, housing assistance, and staying in education."

“An additional $1.34m has been allocated to help young people meet the conditions of their bail and a further, almost $1.3 million will go to enhancing family group meetings for high risk Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to help prevent them re-offending.

“Change will take time but we are determined to keep working hard and keep our eye on what we want to achieve — supporting our young people and reducing offending while helping keep our communities safer," she said.

READ ALSO: The Beaver and the Youth

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