Program hopes to create positive change for Pacific youth offenders

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A group of dedicated case workers and police officers in NSW are helping to give Pacific youth offenders a sense of community in hopes of creating a positive change in their lives.

Transcript

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

00:07to reconnect with their island culture.

00:13There's food to share and a ceremonial bowl of kava.

00:17The centre gives us this opportunity to learn about culture again.

00:21It's part of the Pasifika programme, first started here in 2019.

00:26Initially we had two separate rural gang groups who were unable to mix,

00:31and it took about six to nine months for intense workshops, one-on-one work with them,

00:38for us to even consider bringing those two groups together, which was massive.

00:42And there have been more success stories since, including one boy who was almost transferred to prison,

00:49but 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,

00:55and that was all through the support through Pasifika.

00:59Professor Joji Ravulo says,

01:01Pacific youth remain over-represented in the New South Wales 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,

01:16and how do we then potentially create support to counteract that criminal behaviour in the first place.

01:23Michael 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

01:43to help these young people take that step to change.

01:46Pasifika has recently received government funding to begin training staff statewide,

01:51with Queensland and Victoria Youth Justice also reaching out.

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