The problem we are facing with the youth justice system hasn't developed overnight. The present government has inherited a problem that has been some years in the making. So how did we get here?

One view is that successive governments have taken their eye off the ball with regard to youth justice; another is that our present crisis is not, or not only, due to negligence but more because of governments actively pursuing the wrong approach.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson

It is clear that over a number of years the youth justice system has not received the attention it deserves – and the cost of that neglect is now apparent. The youth justice system sits between two much larger systems – the child protection system and adult corrections. It is a sad fact that the child protection system is a feeder for youth justice – with about two-thirds of children in the youth justice system having a child protection history (and yes, children is the correct term given their age – they have the brains of children, immature and developing, regardless of their sometimes adult appearance), and that the youth justice system is a feeder for adult corrections – with many people in jail having been transported along the conveyor belt from child protection to youth justice and then to adult corrections.

Right now the broader system is, at best, under severe pressure; and, at worst, badly broken. This is evidenced by the fact about 80 per cent of young people in custody at Parkville are on remand, meaning they have not been convicted of an offence. There are a number of unfortunate consequences associated with filling up youth detention centres with unsentenced people, creating a vicious circle. Primarily, there is the direct negative effects on these young people themselves – and let's remember that when the cases go to court, most young people either do not receive a sentence, or get a community sentence. Further, having so many young people on remand means that the system gets blocked up, causing under-servicing and delays in processes such as appearance at court and resolution of cases. This in turn leads to further overcrowding of youth detention centres.