Pick a juvenile justice facility at random, anywhere across the country, and the statistics tell us that three out of four young people in them will have some kind of mental health problem.
You’ll also find an over-representation of indigenous youth. And access to support services is patchy at best. Things get worse when people are released – often they are discharged without any support whatsoever.
At headspace, we think that detaining young people is often the worst option for the individual, and is often counter-productive as a strategy for reducing crime. Detention can create a learning environment for criminal behaviour and in many cases leads to the severing of social ties that may encourage lawful behaviour.
We also know the chances of reoffending once having experienced the criminal detention system are extremely high.
The reasons listed above (plus quite a few more) lead us to believe that detention should only ever be a last resort and, when used, it should be supported with services that recognise the unique challenges (mental, physical, developmental, social) facing those young people who end up there.
And we’re not alone in this view. Just last week the Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists called for better mental health services for children and adolescents in the criminal justice system, pointing out that failure to provide this support only acts to swell the adult prison population with former juvenile detainees.
We should be working to keep young people out of these places. Unfortunately the current Victorian Government until recently seemed to have the opposite view, judging by its plan to impose mandatory sentences on some offenders, including 16 and 17 year olds.
Thankfully, it now appears to be backing away from this move, while pushing ahead with the overall mandatory sentencing plans. But there’s a lack of clarity about other ideas surrounding mandatory sentencing that could still have a significant impact on young people.
The Victorian Government has not yet publicly indicated how it will treat those 18 to 20 year olds who can currently avoid the adult prison system if their sentences are for less than three years. There’s a fear amongst many in the mental health and community services sectors these young adults will in future automatically enter the mainstream prison population. The Department of Corrective Services in WA on the other hand offers a compromise and is seemingly committed to offering services similar to headspace within juvenile justice facilities and on release in the community.
Another proposal to move some hearings from the Children’s Court to adult courts, could also lead to young people losing out – particularly those with mental health issues.
More clarity on both these issues would be welcome.
If the Victorian Government is going to push ahead with its plans for set jail terms, it is clear that those plans shouldn’t include young people. Not now, not ever.
