Youth Justice Reform Act Review final report release
The Youth Justice Reform Act Review Report was tabled in Parliament last month and a preliminary Victorian Government response has been released here.
CMY is committed to advocating for multicultural young people in youth justice settings, and contributed to the Review as a key stakeholder.
Our submission was informed by consultation with relevant staff and young people, and outlined key recommendations based on evidence of what we know works – including minimising young people’s contact with the youth justice system, decreasing recidivism, and supporting rehabilitation.
The majority of issues raised by CMY were included in the final report, and it was encouraging to see many of our recommendations were taken up – demonstrating the relevance of our work and expertise in this area.
This included:
- Stronger support for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) families through the pre-court and court processes and youth community-based orders
- Increasing access to diversion for overrepresented groups of young people (including CALD YP)
- Creating CALD diversion coordinator positions to increase access to diversion
- A tailored youth justice service model for 10 – 13 year olds
- The report also recognised CMY’s ask of a Multicultural Youth Justice Strategy to address overrepresentation.
Read the Youth Justice Reform Act Review Report
You can also read CMY’s Youth Justice Position Statement and Briefing paper released in 2021 here.