Youth Aboriginal Community Court

132 Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (30 August 2023). A two-year trial to implement the specialist Youth Aboriginal Community Court has been announced for Adelaide:

1. What are the 'protective factors' and/or services this funding will go towards to support young people interacting with the Youth Aboriginal Community Court?

2. Against what performance indicators will the government assess success of the Youth Aboriginal Community Court trial?

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services): The Attorney-General has advised:

The Youth Aboriginal Community Court will support eligible participants to have their sentencing deferred for up to six months, during which time they will participate in a culturally responsive and trauma-informed program. This program will implement various protective factors through a personalised support program for each young person. The program will include individualised learning, wellbeing and support, and pathways to education and employment. Further, the program will strengthen cultural identity, resilience, and address trauma support to the young person to desist further offending behaviours.

The government will assess the success of the Youth Aboriginal Community Court Trial through the agreed reporting requirements with the Courts Administration Authority (CAA). The CAA will report to the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) biannually for the duration of their contract. Reporting will include measures such as referral information, participation statistics, eligibility criteria and program participant trends. CAA will also report on the relevant data with respect to the review hearings, completion of the treatment programs and any other additional information agreed upon by CAA and AGD.

CAA is responsible for undertaking an evaluation of the trial program and informing AGD of the findings of this evaluation, no more than six months prior to its conclusion. The evaluation framework, including process and scope, is currently being developed.