Originally published on ABC News website – 1st February 2023
Queensland’s former corrective services boss says “urgent ” change is needed to deal with youth crime in the state, and expert voices are being ignored for political gain.
Representatives from 50 organisations gathered in Brisbane to ask the government to be “smarter, not tougher” on youth crime.
Former director-general of Queensland’s Corrective Services Commission, Keith Hamburger, said he had seen the issue building over the past three decades, and there needed to be structural change from “the very top”.
“It is just because of this stupid law-and-order debate that goes on, politicians arguing over how tough we can be instead of looking at all the evidence-based solutions,” he said. “At the moment, we have a range of departments that are operating in silos.”
‘Reports are being ignored’
Mr Hamburger is calling for the government to urgently implement a justice reform office, which he said was recommended by the Queensland Productivity Commission in 2019.
“The government has not implemented that, and we need that to be overseen by a multi-party justice reform committee,” he said.
Mr Hamburger said from there, “inhumane” detention centres should be phased out.
“We have a model of where it would actually over the next few years phase out the current, not-fit-for-purpose, inappropriate youth detention centres,” he said.
