CREATE’s monthly Advocacy Wrap Ups provide regular updates on our latest advocacy for improving the lives of children and young people with an out-of-home care experience.
Our Wrap Ups include:
- CREATE’s latest submissions on issues including youth justice, residential care, housing and more.
- Media releases and statements about current issues affecting children and young people in care.
- Relevant news and research in the sector so you can catch up on what has happened over the last month.
- A monthly advocacy focus. This month it’s Youth Justice and Raising the Age.
- Consultation opportunities for children and young people to ensure that their lived experiences and voices are heard in decision-making about the out-of-home care system in Australia.
Latest research
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The Australian Institute of Criminology released two Monash University-led reports arguing that “current responses to children with early offending result in substantial missed opportunities to better support this group, while continuing to criminalise such children—directly and indirectly—with little therapeutic or developmental benefit.”
Read more
New data has revealed the costs of locking up children as young as 10 years old is a huge $2827.47 per incarcerated young person per day
News
Consultation opportunities
Help shape carer policy on a national level.
Read more
The Department of Social Services is developing the National Carer Strategy, a pivotal framework for coordinating carer policy across Australia. This strategy will be shaped by carers, for carers. If you are a young carer over the age of 18, you can find out more and apply to join the National Carer Strategy Advisory Committee.
Media Releases and Statements
It’s time to Raise the Age to 14 in South Australia.
News
South Australia considers raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.
‘Finding Families’ initiative piloted in SA.
Read more
CREATE welcomes the innovative initiative to identify safe family homes for children and young people in residential care. South Australia is one of the states that relies the most on residential care, with 15% of the care population being placed in residential care.
Consultation opportunities
Have your say about the minimum age of criminal responsibility in South Australia.
Media Releases and Statements
CREATE Foundation calls on QLD to cease locking up children in adult watch houses.
Our submissions
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Our submission called for the Queensland Government to immediately raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years without exceptions and to raise the age of detention to 16 years as a critical first step to safeguard the rights, wellbeing, and development of young children and avoiding the stigma of criminalisation. Critically, this reform must be implemented in conjunction with increased investment in programs focused on prevention, diversion, therapeutic intervention, and rehabilitation. This is especially important for young people with an out-of-home care experience who are far more likely to have contact with the justice system than young people without a care experience.
Consultation opportunities
Have your say on the draft plan: Putting Queensland Kids First.
Read more
The Queensland Government has released a draft plan, Putting Queensland Kids First, which outlines early interventions to support young children and families to prevent negative outcomes including family violence, contact with youth justice, and over-representation of First Nation children in child protection.
Our submissions
Submission to the NSW Government (Pre-Budget 2024-25)
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CREATE sees the upcoming NSW 2024-25 Budget as an opportunity for Government to initiate once-in-a-generation change to improve the lives of our kids. Informed by the insights and experiences of children and young people, our submission outlines four priority areas for NSW Government investment summarised below:
1. Investment in early intervention efforts to divert children and families from contact with the child protection system.
2. A review of the Your Choice, Your Future support package offered to young people leaving care to effectively set young people up to enjoy full social and economic participation.
3. Implementation in full of the recommendations from: Family is Culture: Independent Review of Aboriginal Children and Young People in OOHC in NSW (2019); Their Futures Matter (NSW Auditor-General, 2020); and The Voices of Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care report (Advocate for Children and Young People, 2021) as a comprehensive approach to reforming the child protection system in NSW.
4. Adequate resourcing of reforms of the child protection system. Appropriate resourcing should also be directed to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. Reform design processes should meaningfully engage young people with lived experience.
News
NSW Government must act urgently on crisis in child protection.
Consultation opportunities
Our submissions
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CREATE strongly urges the ACT Government to leverage the 2024-25 Budget to ensure that proposed changes to the Children and Young People Act 2008 can be translated into positive outcomes for children, young people and families. This will require considerable resource allocation, including funding, workforce development and monitoring of reform implementation and impact. CREATE strongly supports strengthening and increasing capacity in the Aboriginal community controlled sector. This means meaningful and proportional funding for Aboriginal-led and self-determined approaches to keeping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children safe, well and connected to culture. We also encourage the ACT Government to build on its commitment to participation by including the voices of children, young people and families with lived experience as a vital source of evidence in relation to how the system is operating.
News
Consultation opportunities
News
WA Commissioner releases Strategic Plan 2024-27.
Read more
CREATE is pleased to see engagement with young people and amplifying their voices in central to the plan. Read the Strategic Plan.
Consultation opportunities
Have your say on priority policy issues in Western Australia.
News
Larrakia human rights advocate appointed NT’s Children’s Commissioner.
Read more
CREATE Foundation would like to congratulate Shahleena Musk on her appointment as the Northern Territory Children’s Commissioner.
News
Open letter: Victoria’s ongoing failure to implement the UN’s anti-torture protocol
Consultation opportunities
January advocacy focus
Current approaches to youth justice are expensive, creating lifelong stigma and are simply not working. New data from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Productivity Commission supports the need for all State and Territory governments to deliver trauma-informed diversion and therapeutic supports for children who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
CREATE also advocates for a focus on early intervention to support young people to achieve their best life outcomes to prevent longer-term contact with the system.
What needs to happen
- A firm commitment from all State and Territory governments to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, without exceptions and the minimum age of criminal detention to 16 years. Raising the age to 14 years is in line with medical expert advice and reflects the international standards for children’s rights.
- Trauma-informed diversion and therapeutic supports for children who come into contact with the criminal justice system. There should also be a focus on early intervention.
QLD: 10
NSW: 10
ACT: 12
VIC: 10
TAS: 10
SA: 10
WA: 10
NT: 10
- The ACT has committed to raising the age to 14 (with exceptions) from 1 July 2025.
- Victoria has committed to a stepped process for raising the age with the first step to age 12 by end of 2024, then to 14 by 2027.
- Tasmania has committed to raising the age to 14 by July 2029.
CREATE welcomes these commitments but continues to urge all Australian Governments to immediately raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, without exceptions.
![“Originally when I found out that CREATE was advocating for that [raising the age of criminal responsibility], I was like, oh, that's interesting. I couldn't see how that would relate to foster care. But now looking at how often young people in Out of Home Care experience youth justice, I think it's really important that CREATE do that. I think it's great that we are advocating for that.” - Young Person, TAS](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_webp,q_glossy,ret_img,w_800,h_200/https://create.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Subheading-1-1024x256.png)
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