The Mount Isa Family Support Service has called for more effective ways of dealing with criminal offending including night patrols, safe houses, and a public transport system in town.
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The Mount Isa Family Support Service said many young people were not safe in their own homes because of overcrowding, drinking, fighting or domestic violence and ended up in the watch-house overnight.
"This community needs a fully-funded night patrol preferably run by the local Indigenous community and a fully-funded safe house preferably not run by faith-based agencies with a history of child abuse," they said.
"There also needs to be public transport in Mount Isa, the failure of successive governments to provide transport in such a large community has contributed to disengagement."
The Service which mainly serves Indigenous women, said Centrelink has cut off payments because people have failed to walk kilometres in 43 degree heat for appointments.
"Most of our clients do not have their own transport, many are aged or infirm, and they cannot afford the cost of running a vehicle."
The Mount Isa Family Support Service (which includes the Neighbourhood Centre) made the call in its submission to the Queensland Productivity Commission imprisonment inquiry.
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The Inquiry is determining how government resources and policies may be best used to reduce imprisonment and recidivism to improve outcomes for the community.
The Mount Isa Family Support Service said the cycle of reoffending needed to be broken and interactions reduced with the criminal justice system.
"We believe the system will be more effective if non-custodial sentences are used whenever that would not compromise community safety. Examples we believe would work include community service, home detention and drug/alcohol rehabilitation," the Service wrote in their submission.
"We support a more victim-focused system, which concentrates on restorative justice where appropriate, for example meetings with and apology to victims, making restitution."
The Service also said the scope of criminal offences should be reduced when there was no obvious victim, such as with unpaid fines and low-level drug offences.
As for breaking the cycle of reoffending, the Service said they supported better coordination and accountability to ensure successful rehabilitation of prisoners.
"Case management needs to be done by a dedicated group of properly-trained professionals, not prison officers who may be moved around to address overcrowded conditions," they said.
They recommended not mixing short and long-term prisoners, ensuring short-term prisoners complete rehabilitation programs, and ensuring these programs were held locally.
"We commend locally-grown solutions such as the Indigenous Horsemanship Program, which has wide support but remains unfunded," they said.
They also recommended the importance of teaching life skills to at-risk families.
"We know many young offenders are simply not having their basic needs met at home," they said.
They said funding needed to be doubled to help people manage household routines, cooking and preparing meals, and improve personal hygiene and presentation.
Other issues they raised were the need for early diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, proper diagnosis of brain damage possibly caused by lead poisoning and the need for Living With Lead Alliance to educate about long-term harm to young children.
Ms Connors will give evidence at the Productivity Commission's next public hearing at Townsville on May 8.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
