Pasifika program combats over-represented youth in justice system

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Pacific youth are over-represented in Australia's justice system. But a group of dedicated case workers, police officers and former youth offenders in New South Wales are tapping on their pacific culture to buck the trend. The Pasifika program has given youth offenders a sense of community, identity, and the tools to create positive change in their lives.

Transcript

00:00Once a week, at the Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre, boys of Pacific Heritage get together

00:08to reconnect with their island culture.

00:10There's food to share and a ceremonial bowl of kava.

00:18The centre gives us this opportunity to learn about culture again.

00:22It's part of the Pasifika programme, first started here in 2019.

00:27Initially, we had two separate rural gang groups who were unable to mix, and it took

00:32about six to nine months for intense workshops, one-on-one work with them, for us to even

00:39consider bringing those two groups together, which was massive.

00:43And there have been more success stories since, including one boy who was almost transferred

00:48to prison, but later managed to finish school while at Cobham.

00:52He was one of the first in his family to complete his HSE, was able to gain employment, and that

00:56was all through the support through Pasifika.

00:59Professor Joji Ravulo says Pacific youth remain over-represented in the NSW justice system.

01:06But he says initiatives like the Pasifika programme are a novel way to address the issue.

01:11It's trying to understand what has led to this person doing the crime, and how do we then

01:17potentially create support to counteract that criminal behaviour in the first place?

01:23Hey Michael Phil's right there, put the camera on Michael Phil!

01:28A lot of Pasifika's work starts in the community with at-risk youth.

01:32They come and support us at our rugby games, and they buy stuff, they make us feel loved.

01:38Through this programme we do plant seeds and we can start changing mindsets to help these

01:44young people take that step to change.

01:46Pasifika has recently received government funding to begin training staff state-wide, with Queensland

01:53and Victoria Youth Justice also reaching out.

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