- Current Northbridge Home Safe trial extended to
June 2025
- Initial trial period saw a decline in youth
custody incidents
- Collaborative partnership between the Department
of Communities, WA Police Force, Nyoongar Outreach Services and Mission
Australia
A program keeping unaccompanied kids off the streets of Northbridge at night
and diverting them away from the youth justice system has been extended for two
more years by the Cook Government.
Commenced
in October last year, the Home Safe trial coincided with a 38 per cent
reduction in incidents involving children and young people engaging with WA
Police in the precinct once fully operational.
The
initiative restricts children under the age of 16 from being alone in
Northbridge after 10pm. It is designed to help young people to return home or
to a safe place, and divert them from contact with the justice system while
also providing them with access to support.
Over
the course of the six-month trial period, 804 young people engaged with
providers a total of 2,770 times. The average age of children involved was
14-and-a-half, with the youngest just 9 years old.
A
key element to the trial was a partnership between the Department of
Communities, WA Police, Nyoongar Outreach Services, and Mission Australia,
which supported additional transport to take young people to a safe residence,
or to the YouthBeat facility, as well as culturally sensitive assistance for
Aboriginal children and young people and their families.
Today's announcement follows positive feedback from the
partners – in particular, the benefits of the increased presence of the
Nyoongar Outreach Services and the improved cultural safety this brought to
support Aboriginal children and young people.
The
collaborative partnership is also enabling multi-agency case management for
children and young people present in Northbridge as an important part of the
service.
The
trial extension is supported by a $935,000 investment over two years, with a
view to further evaluating the program.
Comments attributed to Community Services
Minister Sabine Winton:
"Children
shouldn't be alone on the streets at night, especially in an entertainment
precinct like Northbridge where they might be at risk.
"The
early feedback of the Home Safe trial is promising, and I'm so proud to be able
to extend the trial until June 2025, giving a longer period for evaluation and
enhancement.
"In
addition to supporting children and young people to a safe and secure place to
spend the night, the program also helps identify at-risk children and young
people to ensure they have wrap-around supports and services suitable to their
circumstances.
"Our
Government is committed to giving children and young people every opportunity
to be the best they can be.
"This
program complements a wide range of early intervention, prevention and
diversion measures implemented by this Government to continue our successful
efforts to divert at risk youth away from custody and detention."
Comments attributed to Police Minister Paul
Papalia:
"The
WA Police Force does an excellent job engaging with at-risk youth, especially
when they are found on the streets late at night, but young people shouldn't be
roaming entertainment precincts unaccompanied.
"Home
Safe helps ensure more children spend the night with appropriate shelter and a
bed to sleep in.
"It also frees up frontline
officers for policing, which in turn makes our community safer."
