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Queensland Youth Justice Minister, Leanne Linard, says a detention centre may be built in Cairns, but preventing young people turning to crime is top priority.
Ms Linard visited Cairns on Thursday to meet with community organisations including Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.
Her visit comes as the number of cars stolen in Cairns this year passed a record one thousand, with growing community anger about youth crime, and police warning people not to take the law into their own hands.
Earlier this week, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk raised the possibility of a detention centre in the Far North.
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"We are looking at expanding youth justice detention," she told reporters.
"We're even considering a youth justice centre here in Cairns."
Minister Linard said the idea is being considered.
“The Premier has been clear that we are looking at Cairns as a region, about when we continue to invest in our facilities to have a strong response and holding our people to account.
“The evidence shows keeping young people close to communities and services and families and elders is about breaking the cycle.
“We want to have early consultation here and look at something here as well as in south-east Queensland.”
Queensland currently has three youth detention centres, Townsville, Brisbane, and West Moreton.
Ms Linard said there’s no timeline yet for a detention centre in the Far North.
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“Your community has said they want to see investment in the youth justice space.
“So now we need to go through a process, due diligence, about where the site may be.”
Ms Linard said she accepts the view that detention doesn’t break the cycle of crime, but community safety must come first.
“I think the reality is the community expect, if a young person is a risk to community safety, that they will be detained, and community safety will be the number one priority.
“At the same time, you have to invest in the services in community to meaningfully divert and to stop that cycle.
"And (invest) in prevention, you need to invest in education, and having psychologists and having GPs in schools to stop this cycle where a young person becomes disengaged and they accelerate and then end up in the youth justice system when they’re 10, 12, 13, 14, 15.
“There is no simple answer to a complex problem. You need to have facilities to detain, and you need to have programs to divert."
Main points
- A youth detention centre could be built in the Cairns region
- Government says prevention and diversion are key priorities
- More than 1000 vehicles stolen in the Cairns region this year
