From Schwartz Media. I'm Daniel James. This is seven am. The L and P has been in the political wilderness in Queensland for most of the past three decades, but in a month's time that's likely to change. After an election campaign fought on youth crime. The youth crime crisis has changed the way queensland.
Has lived their life.
Our faith in the safety of our community has been shaken.
Youth crime is shaping up as an election issue in Queensland as well. So far, the.
Statement adult Crime Adult Tide.
Yesterday llen P leader David Chrissa fully and now its courts would be able to access young people's full, familiar histories even after they turned eighteen. It's a move legal experts say is cheap and won't change rates of offending. Ifour criminal history should be there to be factored into any future decision. If government changes in October, they will be launched by Christmas. But all this tough talk a
more complicated story about why children commit crimes. Today we hear from a survivor of Queensland's youth justice system about the impact of punitive policies and what helped her escape the cycle. It's Thursday, September twenty six. Christine, thank you so much for speaking with this. Can you start by introducing yourself.
Yeah, so my name is Christine. I live in Queensland. I'm a mom of three little girls and I currently work in the child and youth sector and have done so for a few years.
We know that in Queensland at the moment there's a big push for action on youth crime and it's been dominating the election debate in Queensland Land. What we never hear from is young people who have actually been subject to the youth justice system. We know that you have, so I'm hoping we could talk about your own experience if that's okay.
Yeah, definitely.
So both my parents were addicted to methan fedmin There was a lot of sexual abuse and physical abuse in the home, and a lot of exposure to domestic violence.
So I was removed at the age of five years old.
There'd been quite a few child protection concerns and notifications before that. I was in a couple different foster care homes for a few years and my introduction to the youth justice system was around the age of twelve, so I should have been in my final year of primary school. At that point, I was on a child protection order, but was homeless at the time. I was living at a bus stop. My first ever offense that I was arrested for was shoplifting, and I had shoplifted ra bubbles and milk.
From the local coals.
That was my first interaction with police, and I was charged with the offense rather than given a caution, And in the same day I was also charged with trespassing because they found that I had been sleeping at the bus stop and my belongings were there.
Can you recall how you felt when the police arrested you and put you in the justice system. What was going through your mind.
I remember being quite embarrassed and really quite upset.
I was treated quite poorly by the police.
They recognized my last name and could link that back to my family, So I just remember being really kind of angry and also embarrassed. And I also thought, you know, like once they had arrested me, that they would not be able to release me back to homelessness. I kind of thought, oh, well, now somebody will have to call child safety and I'll be put in a house.
But that didn't happen.
They did really me just back out into the street, and I remember just being really hurt by that. And I don't think I felt that a lot as a kid because I was so used to kind of being let down, but that one really hurt me.
So the place put you back out on the street. Can you tell me what it was like living on the streets and being homeless, and what sort of community you had around you, what sort of people you would associate with.
Yeah, so for me, there wasn't a lot of homeless youth around. There would be times where there would be a few, but often those young people were not on child protection orders, so they were able to go to youth homelessness shelters. And I was too young for a homeless shelter, and they also wouldn't take a child on
a child protection order. So most of my time being homeless was me keeping to myself and being alone or being around older typically men that had been homeless for long periods of time, and I would hang out with them and stay around them. I remember, you know, like trying to shower at public bathrooms and stuff. I would try and go near where a beach was because often
there was a shower there. I would have to try and charge my phone in shopping center car parks, but I would be moved on or be charged with another trespassing offence for being on shopping center property. When I'm not shopping, I would try and sleep in the day so I could be awake at night, because typically at night was when it was most unsafe for a girl to be homeless and alone amongst a lot of older,
typically males. Being on a child protection order meant that there was one system that was supposed to care for me and provide protection and they were unable.
To do that.
It meant that no other systems could kind of step in because we have this reliance on the child protection system, right, so they weren't doing their job. There was no one else that was allowed to so any decision, including accessing any health services or accessing any community program needed consent because I was under eighteen and the state was my guardian, so it would appear on paper right that I have an active guardian who's able to provide consent.
However, that wasn't the case.
There were quite a few times that I did do things that I knew could.
Get me caught, and I knew would be just enough.
To get me into youth detention so I could keep myself safe for a short period of time.
I could sleep at night.
I didn't have to worry about strangers and keeping myself safe. It meant I was fed and I knew what time my meal would come at. I could have a shower, I would have clean clothing and a roof over my head. So going to juvie was my best option to keep myself safe.
Christine's story isn't unique in order to genials. Report into youth crime in Queensland points to the fact that many young offenders are themselves victims victims of abuse, neglect, family violence, and intergenerational trauma. These are young people with no options and little prospect, no leavers to pull in order to change their predicament. They experience poor health, mental health issues
and behavioral disorders. Invariably it's healthcare they need, but instead they are criminalized through the justice system fod OF for courts and for prisons. The same report shows that for the most part, youth crime in Queen's Lane is actually stable and in some areas tracking down, but a spate of high profile and incredibly distressing violent crimes have led to a political situation where both major parties afflicting their tough on crime credentials.
Five teenagers are tonight under arrest in relation to the stabbing death of a Queensland grandmother in a shopping The.
Teenager who stamped Northlake's mum, Emma Lovell, has pleaded guilty to murder. In a sudden and surprise development, a teenage boy has been charged with the murders of two people after a crash in an allegedly stolen four wheel drive on Brisbane's by Side. Yeah.
I think those are really horrific things that occurred and there's nothing anybody can say to make that better.
Those types of crime that that's not my experience.
Those aren't things that I engaged in all that people I knew and have now worked with as an adult, those aren't typical of what I'm seeing young people.
They're offending. It's a lot of like.
Survival crime type of stuff, and we need to address the root cause of offending, why it's happening. What's going on for those young people are their undiagnosed disabilities, because we know that's a major issue and until we can adequately address all of those concerns, we can't expect to see the youth crime rates get significantly better.
After the break what it's actually like for a child in an adult watchhouse. Recently, horrific footage has emerged showing the why children have been treated in some of the adult holding cells in Queensland. The video show young people panicked, struggling to breathe and locked in freezing cold cells with adult prisoners in other cells. Just meets away. As a child, Christine spent time in adult watchhouses, so that footage, while upsetting, didn't shock her.
Yeah, so I.
Would really like to go to Juvie for the protection, but the watchhouse in between was what was quite scary.
Often I would.
Be the only or one of very few children in the watchhouse with typically a lot of intoxicated adults, usually men. So I remember one time I would have been about twelve or thirteen in a watchhouse and in a cell across from me there was a man who had exposed his genitals to me and was yelling out to me some QUI gross things and I just had to sit there.
There was nowhere I could go to escape that.
And I think for me, like I have quite a history of childhood trauma and stuff. So those types of experiences really impacted me and my mental health. There were times where female sanitary products were denied, we didn't have access to that and police would laugh. There was no moving of other adults who were being quite aggressive or indecently exposing themselves. There was no checking in to see if I was okay or if I needed anything, nothing like that.
Queensland Police have recently launched an investigation in the state's sixty three lockups. Do you have any confidence in Queensland Police's ability to investigate itself as long as we.
Have the people that are causing harm. I don't think that we could ever expect a thorough, ethical investigation be done into their own behavior. I think what's necessary is an independent oversight body having access to watchhouses at all times, but also to do that investigation, because you know, people don't feel safe to make a complaint about the police
whilst they're still dealing with them. So I just think the number of complaints would be quite low compared to the amount of harm, and their ability to investigate themself would not be good.
Christine, We'remnthia from the state election. As we know, it's been fought on youth crime. The L and P is looking like that will win with their policy of adult crime for adult time. You stop committing crimes at ide, but for very different reasons. Can you tell us why.
Look, I think for every young person is different and all of their circumstances are different. I think there are a lot of children that are in the youth justice system that will continue their life journey through the adult system.
I think for me, my offending it did stop at a.
Teen, but it wasn't because I was worried about going to the adult prison. It was because I then left the child protection system and I got housing and they got that holistic wrap around support that addressed all of my needs. Until my basic needs were met like shelter and food, I wasn't able to address my mental health concerns or other issues going on in my life. And I think that's true for a lot of young people.
Once I turned eighteen and that weird red tape that we have around children on child protection orders was removed, I was actually able to access all of these community supports that really actually did help and did change the way my life was heading. And for other young people, unfortunately, they'll continue their journey through the adult systems because there was never enough adequate intervention in their lives.
So what does your experience from both a personal unprofessional perspective tell you about how we might begin to address youth offending and deal with some of the traumas that the pin at all.
I think we'll always need an individualized a response. You can have two young people, same gender, same area, but their needs will be very different. So any type of blanket rule and policies and that type of stuff.
Will never really work.
We need to ensure that a child's basic needs are met before we expect them to engage in other programs, you know, like we have we have kids that are homeless. They've exited attention, they're homeless, but we expect them to attend Youth Justice four times a week to check in and if they don't, then they're going to be arrested
for a breach of bay or conditions. But if they're homeless, how are we expecting them to be able to, you know, make their way to these providers and get that support, Like, we can't expect that of children. So I think addressing their basic needs like shelter, food, and then moving onto things like mental health, education, anything else that they may need in their life. We shouldn't have a youth justice
system that is so highly politicized. That's what we have, and I think the general public most people aren't educated on, you know, like why youth crime occurs and the driving factors. And I'm not saying they should be, but I think if we're going to put the spotlight on these violent crimes that we know are the minority of offenses, we should also be talking about real solutions for that. And that's not adult time for adult crime. That's addressing why
the crime is happening and stopping it. And until we can adequately address all of those concerns, we can't expect to see the youth crime rates get significantly better.
And finally, Christine, what do you wish everyone could now about the children currently placed in youth justice system? Well, what is it like for them being in that system as we speak?
I think, you know, they're not looked at as children that are worthy of love and being cared for. But at the end of the day, they are children just like your children and my children and every other child that we see, and the fact that they've offended doesn't mean that suddenly they're not worthy of love. It doesn't mean that suddenly they don't deserve to have their rights upheld. I just wish that people would look at them like
children that just need love and care. I think we forget that those kids are longing for that.
Christine, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
Just to note, we change Christine's name to protect her privacy. Also in the news today, Thailand has become the first country in Southeast days You're to recognize same sex marriage. The landmark decision grants full legal, financial and medical rights for marriage partners of any gender. The new law will take effect in one hundred and twenty days. And the Bureau of Meteorology has a statement of apology for sending
out a false tsunami warning through its weather app. The test warning was sent out yesterday between eleven am and twelve pm Australian Eastern Standard Time as part of a planned transition to a new early warning system software. The Bureau has reiterated there is no threat of a tsunami for Australians. I'm Daniel James. This is seven am cinnamorrow.