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Yesterday, the Queensland Government introduced the Making Queensland Safer Bill which includes the deeply concerning ‘Adult Crime Adult Time’ laws.

MEDIA RELEASE

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Date: November 29, 2024

 ‘Adult Crime Adult Time’ policy whilst undoubtedly well intentioned on the part of the government, will not make our communities safer.

The Crisafulli Government has introduced ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ as part of the broader ‘Making Queensland Safer’ Bill yesterday in Queensland Parliament. The heavily politized ‘Adult Crime Adult Time’ catchcry disregards the substantial evidence base on what is effective in addressing offending behaviour.

These laws will result in the incarceration of more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and indeed vulnerable children from all backgrounds, who are already disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. As we process the details of the bill, it is clear a longer timeframe is needed for adequate community and sector consultation.

As a society,, we must remember that we are dealing with children and are obligated to uphold and protect their human rights.

It is a sad statistic that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in Queensland are 26 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Indigenous youth. This alarming trend continues to worsen each year. The root causes of offending include childhood trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, disengagement from education, mental health issues, and substance abuse.

“Research consistently demonstrates that incarcerating children, particularly without effective rehabilitation programs, fails to reduce youth offending. Instead, it often exacerbates trauma and facilitates association with other more serious offenders, further entrenching and often escalating criminal behaviour in youth offenders. This approach will not enhance the safety of our communities,” said Mr. Shane Duffy, CEO of ATSILS.

“ATSILS calls for more culturally informed justice reinvestment practices to address youth offending and increase community safety.”

The Crisafulli Government must engage more effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and we urge them to put more focus  and funding towards prevention and early intervention programs. These initiatives should be designed and delivered On Country by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, ensuring they are culturally appropriate, and community-led. Such programs offer the best chance of success in supporting our youth to break the cycle of offending and fostering safer communities.

We call on all stakeholders to join us in advocating for evidence-based prevention, intervention and diversionary solutions that prioritise the well-being and future of all Queensland children.

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Engaging with police recruits to enhance understanding of services and communities

ATSILS @ QPS Market Day 


On 20 November 2024, ATSILS Brisbane’s CLE team attended the Queensland Police Academy Market Day. This event invites various agencies, organisations, and QPS units to the Queensland Police Service Academy to showcase their services and how they might be relevant to recruits’ future policing duties. ATSILS had a stall at this event alongside the deadly team at Murri Watch Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Corporation.

Close to 900 current police recruits attended this event and had the opportunity to engage with our stall and ask questions about what ATSILS does. Many police recruits stopped by and advised that they were already aware of ATSILS, as part of their training included information about the obligation on police officers to facilitate a call to ATSILS in the event of an arrest of an individual who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander so that the individual can have access to legal advice at that critical stage.

There were many productive conversations with police recruits about the importance of cultural training and understanding to give pause and consideration of the impact of intergenerational trauma, other challenges that an individual at risk of being in contact with the criminal justice system might have and their story. There were also many discussions about the importance of diversion away from the criminal justice system to allow a pathway to addressing key needs and providing key supports to those at risk. Some recruits were not aware of the policy work that ATSILS does with respect to Closing the Gap, prevention and early intervention and the delivery of community legal education and it was great to be able to share that information as well.

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Media Release – Our Communities Have The Solutions

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd and Tablelands Community Justice Group.
Atherton, Far North Queensland – November 22, 2024 – The CEO and Executive members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd (ATSILS) recently met with the Tablelands Community Justice Group (TCJG) Elders in Atherton to discuss the systemic justice issues driving youth offending, incarceration, and affecting community safety in the region and to hear about some of the community-led responses making a real difference.
Indigenous youth in Queensland are 26 times more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous peers and it is a sad state of play that this rate continues to spiral year after year. Factors such as childhood trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, mental health and substance abuse are the main drivers of offending behaviour.
Youth detention centres in Queensland are often operating at over-capacity which leads to children being detained in adult watch houses and prisons. These facilities are ill-equipped to ensure their safety, compromise their human rights and can exacerbate trauma and mental health issues, increasing the likelihood of reoffending and more serious offending.
Addressing these issues requires respectful, culturally informed approaches, increased resources for rehabilitation and diversion programs, and systemic changes to reduce reliance on detention for young people. Developing stronger relationships with police to foster community-engaged policing, rather than over-policing communities, is a crucial element to this.
Local communities must be involved in the solutions, and we call on the new State Government to engage more effectively with local Elders and grassroots and community-controlled organisations in the development of therapeutic justice responses. Organisations such as the TCJG, which is comprised of local Elders, are uniquely positioned to understand and address cultural and social dynamics within their communities, leading to more effective interventions such as ‘On Country’ Elder led camps. Ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth have access to community-led rehabilitation and diversion services, such as ‘On Country’ Elders camps, is vital to breaking the cycle of offending. Cultural camps provide opportunities for young people to learn respect, connect with their heritage and understand their cultural identity. This connection fosters a sense of pride and belonging and sets the foundation for them to engage more effectively with further education and rehabilitation services and ultimately, successful reintegration into the community.
Quotes:
• “ATSILS and TCJG call for more culturally informed justice reinvestment practices to address youth offending and increase community safety,” said Mr. Shane Duffy, CEO of ATSILS. “By engaging the community at the local level, we can better understand the challenges to tailor our service delivery to community need and develop more effective solutions that engage youth in rehabilitation.”
• “Our Elders network plays a crucial role in helping to set our youth on as path to rehabilitation to break the cycle of offending,” said Julie Go Sam, TCJG Justice Coordinator. “Our united presence, support in community and involvement in ‘On Country’ cultural camps are an invaluable foundation for teaching youth respect for self and others and guiding them away from the justice.”
For an insight into ‘On Country’ camps and aspirations to develop a Youth Centre to address offending please view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tINIi7WDeI
About the Tablelands Community Justice Group:
The Tablelands Community Justice Group is dedicated to restorative justice practices and community/justice sector engagement, aiming to create a safer, more cohesive community.
About the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd:
ATSILS provides innovative and professional legal services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Queensland. [For more information: www.atsils.org.au ]
Media Contact for Mr Shane Duffy (ATSILS CEO) – Joshua Herd (Email: Joshua.herd@atsils.org.au )
Media Contact of Tablelands Community Justice Group – Julie Go Sam (Email:  j.gosam@mypathway.com.au )
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Masterclass event on the changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991

The UQ Pro Bono Centre and Community Legal Centres Queensland recently held a Masterclass event on the changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 for legal practitioners in the community legal assistance sector.

At this event, there were short presentations from ATSILS, the @Institute of Urban Indigenous Health, Legal Aid Queensland, the Queensland Human Rights Commission, The University of Queensland and Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion.

ATSILS’ Kate Greenwood and Pree Sharma presented to the group on key changes to vilification laws in Queensland. It is hoped that this event will help equip civil lawyers to understand key changes to the legislative framework so that they can best assist their clients with discrimination and vilification matters once the changes come into effect next year.

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International Men’s Day – Cairns

Today our Cairns CLE team attended the first International Men’s Day event in Cairns. There was a big turnout in the Cairns heat and it was great to join the locals to celebrate “Positive Male Role Models” and recognise their contributions to our community.

We thank the hosts for organising the games, free BBQ lunch & drinks. It was an honour to connect with the locals and various organisations sharing our legal education resources, creating awareness of our services, and providing referrals to assist.
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ATSILS Community Legal Education Outreach – Mt Isa and Cloncurry

ATSILS Community Legal Education outreach is just one of the ways we assist clients in overcoming the tyranny of distance in remote locations to enhance access to justice. These sessions help ensure the community is more aware of its legal rights and the range of legal services available from ATSILS.

Paige (Solicitor – Coronial, Community Legal Education & Public Sector Monitoring) from our Townsville office recently partnered with NQWLS to deliver DFV Community Legal Education and stakeholder engagement sessions in Mt Isa.

The team met with AIDRWA and discussed DFV and Child Protection matters, to increase staff understanding of these legal topics to better support their clients and discussed local ‘hot’ issues the service is seeing. They spent valuable time with the community justice group (NWQICSS), 54 Reasons, Gidgee Healing (Family wellbeing team) and the social worker team at the Mt Isa Hospital (NWHHS) to discuss future CLE opportunities, ATSILS & NQWLS services, referral pathways and NQWLS’ monthly legal clinic in Mt Isa.

The team also journeyed to Cloncurry where Paige partnered with Sharn Fogarty from Mitakoodi Aboriginal Corporation (Cloncurry), Joshua Gibson (criminal solicitor at our Mt Isa office), Natasha Chong (Throughcare, Mt Isa based) to deliver in-person CLE in Cloncurry. All in all the feedback received from the community and stakeholders was very positive.