It’s been the same for far too long. Over-represented in the criminal justice system are the same clusters of young people: First Nations children and young people, young people from multicultural backgrounds, children living out of home care, 18- to 25-year-olds, and girls and young women with complex needs. 

Westjustice, Youthlaw and Centre for Innovative Justice convene the Smart Justice for Young People (SJ4YP) coalition. The coalition is made up of 40 leading social services, health, legal, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and youth advocacy organisations working together to create change for children and young people who come into contact with the criminal legal system. Its goal is to inspire and assist the breadth of Victorian agencies and practitioners helping young people to work on common goals, searching for long-term solutions and better lives for young people who will otherwise potentially slide into criminality. 

The Ross Trust has provided a grant of $300,000 over three years to allow SJ4YP to build its foundations, appointing a campaign manager as well as extra policy and research capacity. Westjustice’s Director of the Youth Law Program, Anoushka Jeronimus said the grant has been a game changer in terms of the coalition meeting its ambitious plans and timeline. 

“We are making incredible progress because of the grant from the Ross Trust,” she said. “The issue of young people getting into trouble with the law is a complex problem, especially for those over-represented groups. Complex problems require everybody working together and no one organisation or funder or program can do it alone. That's why Smart Justice is trying to get everybody together to work on the same problem at the same time.”

The Ross Trust’s Senior Program Manager, Meghan Weekes, said the grant was in line with the Trust’s belief that meaningful, lasting change starts with collective vision and practical, coordinated action. “The coalition’s bold, systems-focused approach tackles the entrenched inequities that see too many young people, especially those from First Nations and multicultural backgrounds or from out-of-home care, caught up in the justice system,” she said. “This is about more than justice reform, it’s about investing in the futures of young people and ensuring the services that surround them work together, not in isolation.”

As it stands, Anoushka said government, police, legal services, schools, family support agencies, and other such parties work in silos, without co-ordination, co-operation or mutual ambition.

“We’re not working together on the solution or with the kids who are most affected by the problem,” Anoushka said. “That’s why they’re chronically over-represented in the criminal justice system and underserved by the systems that come before it. Plus, we keep relying on the criminal justice system to be both the system that responds when kids get into trouble, while also being looked at to help solve the problem.”

SJ4YP is an ambitious attempt to nurture collective solutions among all the agencies that exist to guide, assist and build young lives before they stray into potential criminal behaviour. 

“Let’s be clear,” she added. “Nobody wants young people who offend, Smart Justice is all about getting to the solution. It needs to come from education, the children, families and their community, health and wellbeing, housing and material needs, policing and the criminal and civil justice systems. The police can’t do it because they are a law enforcement agency. They’re not social workers or health workers or youth workers. We need all those groups working together.”

“It can start with us,” Anoushka said. “We want government to change, but we can't wait for that. The problem of over-representation is urgent. That’s why we, the community sector, need to look at what we can do right now with the resources that we have.”

Read more about the work of Smart Justice for Young People