CEO message: September
Owning Victoria’s future means empowering multicultural young people
Two months out from the 28 November Victorian election, it’s more important than ever we all play an active role in shaping the future of our multicultural state.
With increased attempts to divide our communities and many young people still facing complex and compounding challenges, CMY is focused on priorities that invest in multicultural young people – in their participation, belonging and wellbeing. Because getting it right for multicultural young people is how we get it right for all of Victoria.
Among the priorities outlined in our State Election Platform, youth justice is a key focus area requiring targeted, long-term investment in early intervention.
The annual release of crime statistics by Victoria’s Crime Statistics Agency last week showed a decrease in youth offending by 8.1 per cent. While it’s great to see any reduction in young people involved in the youth justice system, there is much more work to do over the long term to ensure all young people can better access safe, supportive services, stronger school and community connections, and fairer systems that meet their needs.
CMY welcomes the release of the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) report Preventing Youth Crime and supports its recommendations, which call for a more coordinated, evidence-based approach to youth crime prevention. This includes having specific and measurable service targets, better data collection, evidence-based advice to government, and re-establishing the community of practice.
TARGET ZER0 led by Westjustice and CMY is one example that has been built around some of the learnings outlined in the report. This ten-year collective impact initiative brings partners together around a shared agenda with shared measurement – to understand the evidence and address the factors that drive youth criminalisation and justice over-representation.
The Government’s establishment of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in November 2025 is an example of a new commitment to evidence-based reform. But addressing overrepresentation of multicultural young people requires long-term investment. The Government’s 2017 review outlined the evidence base for this reform agenda and for restorative, culturally-responsive, community-based responses that focus on prevention and work with communities to address systemic discrimination and gaps in support.
A justice system based on punishment does not make communities safer. If we want to reduce youth involvement in crime, we must address the root causes of offending – while also responding directly to the overrepresentation of multicultural young people in the justice system today.
That’s why CMY is calling for multi-year funding for our Lived Experience Mentoring Project; an expansion of Le Mana Pasifika Project into the northern growth corridor; and a commitment to ongoing funding for Jamma, the successful South Sudanese Community Support Group.
Read more on our priorities in our State Election Platform 2026.
Carmel Guerra OAM
CMY CEO