Young people and the juvenile justice system: a research, policy and practice disconnect?
Jioji Ravulo, Anne Hampshire and Prue Burns
Mission Australia
Contact Email:   hampshireamissionaustralia.com.au

On any given day in Australia 6,000 young people are under juvenile justice supervision. The daily average number of young people who are incarcerated is increasing, despite clear and consistent evidence of the poor outcomes achieved through incarceration. Conversely, there is growing evidence of the positive impact of integrated holistic community based programs which work with young people involved in the juvenile justice system, and their families, peers, communities and the institutions in which they come into contact. Is there a research, policy and practice disconnect?

This presentation will report on new in-depth research conducted with 100 young people involved in the juvenile justice system, half of whom are of Pacific background. It will highlight the differences and similarities between the Pacific and non-Pacific young people, explore the role that culture, family and community plays for these young people, identify the strengths of this group of young people as well as systemic factors which can work against their rehabilitation. It will showcase an externally evaluated program which is achieving significant and positive results across a whole range of domains for young people, including a significant reduction in re-offending. It will conclude with a range of policy and program recommendations.

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