Re-Thinking Approaches to Youth Justice A Public Health Model Approach to Respond to Young People’s Involvement in Violence in Australia Hannah Klose*
i
Introduction
*
It has been over 30 years since the Australian government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’).1 Last year, an examination was conducted on the Government’s progress in the last five years in relation to children’s rights in Australia.2 Based on findings from my own research, it is clear that there is a distinct gap between ‘rights’ and ‘public health’ when it comes to addressing children’s needs and protecting them from potential harm. Hence, this article proposes that a holistic and interdisciplinary public health approach be implemented in Australia, and ideally, on a global scale.3 By definition, a public health approach is characterised and defined by its own emphasis on prevention and early intervention, primarily focusing on prioritising the needs of children and young people and addressing the social determinants of violence.4 This approach has been pioneered successfully, particularly in Glasgow, Scotland, as a leading model in applying community-based initiatives, including prevention and early intervention strategies which consider and prioritise the needs of children and young people and address the social determinants of violence.5 Implementing these strategies would also steer children and young people away from the youth justice system and set them up for a more optimistic future.6 In this context, taking a public health approach would involve introducing data-driven strategies and evidence-based programs, particularly with Indigenous and other vulnerable groups through participative and restorative approaches, as for example, with the Justice Reinvestment Project in Bourke in Western New South Wales.7 ii
Prevention and Early Intervention: An International Comparative Study
As part of a larger comparative study from which this article is derived, I employed a mixed-methods approach consisting of two separate processes; a quantitative analysis of online media content over a six-month period and a collection of qualitative data through twenty-five semi-structured interviews with practitioners, policymakers and academics within the youth justice sphere in Australia and the United Kingdom.8 Each qualitative semi-structured interview with participants was conducted at a place and time of mutual convenience for Australian participants; and via Skype or WhatsApp for UK participants. Using a thematic analysis, I coded and interpreted key quotes which emerged from the interview data into themes and categories which strongly referenced a ‘public health approach’ and how this model can be adopted properly and resourced accordingly. Therefore, the purpose of the international study was to provide a holistic understanding of how public health approaches are responding to the needs of children and young people involved in the criminal justice system.9
22
Hannah Klose, Re-Thinking Approaches to Youth Justice
Hannah Klose is currently a PhD Student and Graduate Teaching Associate within the Faculty of Arts (Criminology) at Monash University and has previously worked as a Research Assistant for the International Youth Justice Network. In 2019, she graduated with First Class Honours in Criminology from Monash University. To date, she has made submissions into Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, the Youth Violence Commission, Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC), Current Issues in Criminal Justice and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
1 Convention on the Rights of the Child, opened for signature 20 November 1989, 1577 UNTS 3 (entered into force 2 September 1990). 2 Australian Human Rights Commission, Children’s Rights Report 2019: In Their Own Right (Report, 28 October 2019) 10. 3 Laura Jane Robertson, A Practice-Based Approach to Youth Justice: The Whole System Approach in Scotland (PhD Thesis, The University of Glasgow, 2017) 16–18 <http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8493/1/2017RobertsonPhD.pdf>. The approach this article will be proposing is an implementation of Scotland Whole System Approach (WSA) which aims to improve long-term outcomes for children and young people, by diverting them away from statutory measures: at 14. 4 World Health Organisation, World Report on Violence and Health (Report, 2002) 3. 5 Sarah Pepin, Sally Lipscombe and Grahame Allen, Public Health Model to Reduce Youth Violence, House of Commons Library (Debate Pack No CDP-2018-0274, 12 December 2018) 3. 6 Victorian Council of Social Service, Restoring Youth Justice: VCOSS Submission to the Inquiry into Youth Justice Centres (Report, March 2017) 6. 7 ‘Justice Reinvestment in Bourke’, Just Reinvest NSW (Web Page) <https://www.justreinvest.org.au/justice-reinvestment-in-bourke/>. 8 Hannah Klose, ‘Utilising a Public Health Model Approach to Respond to Youth Violence in Victoria’ (Research Summary Document, Monash University, 2019) 11 (‘Summary Document’). 9 Ibid 2.
