Thread by @SophieTrevitt

Head of NT News @DeniseCahill18 urges the NT Government to exercise caution when implementing youth justice law reforms that could impact generations of children to come.

It's not every day I agree with the NT News, but here we go.. #ntpol

Thread 👇

For decades, children around the country ~ but particularly First Nations kids ~ have been let down by Labor and Liberal Government's obsession with law-and-order state election campaigns. In fact, everyone has been let down - because our communities are none the safer for it.

This is not a problem unique to the Territory - although the NT Government's backflips when it comes to youth justice reform have been particularly monumental in recent years.

I've written about them here: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Evidence stemming back to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Atkinson Review in QLD, NT Royal Commission all tell us the same thing:
1. 'Tough on crime' does not reduce crime
2. Prisons dont make us safe
3. There are real alternatives that govts should fund

And for decades we've seen scandals emerge about the horrendous treatment of predominately Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids in prisons ➡️ more inquiries ➡️ promises of 'never again' ➡️ short-term govt funding for pilot programs and then...

... govt $$ commitment wanes & programs aren't given long term funding, kids act up & there's a media or political beat up and we see the whole cycle reversed

@ACurrentAffair9 expose on youth crime ➡️ govt announces tough-on-crime-bail reform ➡️ reviews are thrown by the wayside

This is the terrible, seemingly endless cycle we are trapped in until SOMEONE making these political decisions decides that children's lives ~ and community wellbeing ~ are too important to be thrown around like political playthings.

There is no evidence gap. We know exactly what we need to invest in to keep communities and kids safe. We need long-term investment in diversion programs (which are working! health programs in the top end have a 75% recidivism rate!)

We need to front-load resources into supporting families & communities to avoid the criminal justice system. (Currently 80% of the justice budget goes into prison, even though the earlier a child comes in contact with the criminal justice system the more likely the are to offend)

We need to plug the gaps in other govt services (why are so many kids with disabilities, in contact with so many govt agencies like health, education, housing, child protection.. not getting assessed or treated until they show up in the criminal justice system?!)

And we need to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 and actually start addressing kids' behaviour as the health and social issue it is - not a criminal one. We have listened to the doctors on Covid19 (thank god) and it's time we listened to them on raising the age too. /end