Extra staff needed for expansion of Juvenile Justice Teams

13/5/95

Extra staff will be assigned to help with the enormous number of referrals to the Government's new Juvenile Justice Teams.

Referrals have more than quadrupled since the expansion of the Ministry of Justice scheme eight weeks ago, Attorney General and Minister for Justice Cheryl Edwardes said today.

Some areas have received an average of 31 referrals each week compared with an average of five referrals per week during the 18-month pilot period, when teams operated in Fremantle and Thornlie/Armadale.

Mrs Edwardes said extra staff would be allocated to ease the workload for the Juvenile Justice Co-ordinators, in an effort to reduce the backlog of referrals that had occurred with each of the metropolitan teams.

She said the large number of referrals to the teams was indicative of the confidence the police and the Children's Court had in the scheme, which removed minor, first-time offenders from the formal court system.

"We have been truly surprised at the positive response to the teams, which has far exceeded our highest expectations," Mrs Edwardes said.

"These teams are effectively nipping potential repeat offenders in the bud by making them accountable for their actions and helping them to accept responsibility for the offences."

However, Mrs Edwardes said the significant increase in referrals would result in some adjustments to ensure the teams could continue to operate effectively.

These would include changing the process for dealing with victimless crimes, which currently made up some 50-60 per cent of all referrals to the teams.

Offences referred to the teams in the past two months ranged from receiving goods to house breaks and common assault.

Juvenile Justice Teams comprise a Juvenile Justice Co-ordinator, police officer, the offender, his or her parents and the victim, who all come together to decide an appropriate penalty for the crime which is agreeable to all parties.

A joint project between the Ministry of Justice and the Police Department, the Juvenile Justice Teams aims to divert minor offenders from the formal court system, replacing the former Children's Panel.  Offenders are referred either directly by the police or the Children's Court.

The success of the pilot teams resulted in the expansion of the teams to the northern suburbs based at Wangara and the eastern suburbs based at Midland as well as 17 regional centres.

Since the expansion of the teams, the average rate of referrals to the metropolitan teams has been 27 per week in each region.  Referrals to the regional teams have also been well above the average weekly number.

Media contact:  Diana Russell Coote 222 9595 or 421 7777