Youth crime prevention
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:28): My question is for the Premier. The YSAS youth crime prevention program has supported over 10,000 young people with critical early intervention – young people in Victoria who have had recent contact with police. But the Victorian Labor government has just cut its funding by $1.85 million per year. This funding cut will mean that 330 young people every year will be denied access to an effective program that can turn them away from crime and towards a better future. Premier, youth crime prevention programs work, so will the government urgently reconsider its decision to cut funding to YSAS?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:28): I thank the member for Richmond for her question. In terms of the allegation made about YSAS, who I do want to acknowledge are an excellent agency who do very good and important work, there has been no change or adjustment to their core level of funding. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify for the member, because perhaps she is not aware of this, that this organisation and many others during the period of the pandemic were provided with some additional one-off funding allocations to provide them with support that was in recognition that during the pandemic many organisations – we all had our lives disrupted during the period of the pandemic – needed to be provided with some additional support to be able to work through that period of time and continue their service provision. It is this one-off funding that has now come to a conclusion, but I do want to re-emphasise for the member for Richmond there has been no change to YSAS’s core funding.
In terms of the broader observations that the member for Richmond made around investments in crime prevention, we absolutely have a strong focus on crime prevention, whether it is through the work that is done every single day with Victoria Police and their targeted and dedicated youth police officers, who work with young people across our community, or the work that is done in the youth justice portfolio that is providing dedicated support to young people who are at risk or who may already be engaged in at-risk behaviour. One of the other key areas in supporting and preventing youth crime is to make sure young kids get a good education, and that is why initiatives like free kinder, free TAFE and of course the school saving bonus are about making sure that young people can remain engaged and connected with school opportunities, whether they be in the formal schooling system, but also we know in the TAFE sector they can provide some really important pathways for young people to go and have a rewarding career. That will also continue to be the focus of our work in this youth crime prevention area.
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:31): I thank the Premier for her response, but the pandemic cannot be used here as an excuse. This funding was a result of years of advocacy and increased need, and that need has only increased even more post pandemic. It also comes as Labor is increasing police funding by 8 per cent as it drags its feet on raising the age of criminal responsibility to keep kids out of jail, where they do not belong, and funnelling over $30 million into a new ankle bracelet monitoring program for kids. It is almost like the Victorian government is letting the police lobby write its policies instead of listening to First Nations communities and human rights experts. Why is Labor increasing funding for policing and incarcerating children instead of keeping them out of prisons in the first place?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:32): I thank the member for Richmond for her supplementary question. It was a little difficult to hear precisely her question because, as we have seen, the member for Richmond prefers to provide content for her social media outlets rather than making a contribution to the Parliament of Victoria. I will again reiterate for the benefit of the member for Richmond that we are absolutely focused on supporting young people. We should not be demonising them; we should not be attacking them. We should be recognising that young people have a range of different challenges that require a range of different supports, whether it is absolutely at the earliest opportunity to keep young people engaged in schools or, for those who are at risk, supporting dedicated crime prevention programs like the more than 940 crime prevention initiatives we have supported since 2015. We will continue to have a range of measures to support young people wherever they are.