Do these Black Lives Matter?
Two boys and two girls, aged between 14 and 18 years old, were killed after stealing a car from Idalia, a suburb of Townsville, early Sunday morning and crashing at Bayswater.
The Townsville Bulletin reports that some of the children were known to the Department of Child Safety and under state care, the 14 year old driver of the stolen car walks free tonight.
Marching to raise the profile of indigenous deaths in custody is an important issue, yet it doesn’t highlight the real problems in aboriginal communities, mental health, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, sexual assault, nor does it prevent more young black lives from entering the criminal justice system.
Australian communities are dealing with a juvenile justice epidemic that see’s both indigenous and non-indigenous children, some as young as eight, involved in violent crimes with the same offenders being caught by police and let free time and time again.
It is clear that the parents of these children are failing in their duty of care particularly when child protection become involved and a new approach is needed.
Here’s our Juvenile Justice #PolicySnapShot
Juvenile Justice Reform
Our approach to reducing juvenile crime will see offenders enter the national youth service program prior to re-offending. Our policy includes a nation juvenile curfew combined with redirection programs that focus on training, education and community engagement to reduce recidivism rates.
More Here: https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/townsville/fatal-crash-victims-reportedly-known-to-docs-as-driver-walks-free-hours-after-crash/news-story/682b4e718c7f4f6c8f711216a147c12a
