Why CAYJ does not support a Youth Curfew for Alice Springs
CAYJ does not support the imposition of a youth curfew. Instead, we call for the continued resourcing of a range of flexible after-hours services that provide young people with safe and fun activities in welcoming spaces, supervised by skilled youth workers, with access to meals and safe transport options, and supported referrals to other services, including crisis support, when needed.
Studies of youth curfews in Australia and overseas consistently show that youth curfews are not effective in keeping young people safe or reducing youth crime – in fact, some studies show that youth curfews have slightly increased youth crime during curfew hours.[1],[2],[3] The policing of a curfew is more likely to funnel young people into the justice system, rather than connecting them with services that address their underlying needs.
While families and the community are rightly concerned about the safety and wellbeing of young people when they are out on the streets late at night, a curfew is not the answer. We need a range of welcoming spaces that young people feel safe to go and engage with staff who build relationships of trust, that then enable those young people to seek help when they need it.
Over the last 12 months, working with local youth services, the Northern Territory Government has invested in a number of after-hours services that are providing transport, meals and safe activities that provide an alternative to the streets, including The Gap and Tangentyere’s Brown Street drop-in centres, and the Youth Engagement Night Officers, who are on the streets seven nights a week from 8pm-3am.
Continued investment in these services, and ongoing collaboration between agencies, government, families and the community, will help keep young people in Alice Springs safe and engaged in positive activities, and provide a means to connect at-risk young people and families to the supports they need.
After-hours services must be evaluated, with a focus on engagement with young people and assistance to connect to other support services, so that we can be providing the best possible response for young people, families and the community.
The alternative: elements of an effective after-hours response
A range of safe and fun structured activities for young people to enjoy together. Young people should have the opportunity to inform the range of activities on offer.
Activities at a range of times, including earlier activities, particularly for younger children, with support to get home.
Activities located in places that are accessible and welcoming to the range of young people who are most likely to benefit from after-hours services, including young people living on town camps, young people travelling from remote communities, and young people living in public housing.
Supervision by skilled youth workers and provides a safe space for young people to develop trusting relationships with adults – this enables agencies to understand what is going on in a young person’s life, and follow-up with support for young people and their family when it is needed.
Coordinated service model that enables a rapid response to young people at-risk in regard to safety, accommodation, substance misuse, transport, relationships, health and criminal justice issues.
Provision of meals and safe transport for young people to home or another safe place. An evaluation of the Youth Drop-In Centre (YDIC) in Alice Springs (2006) found that more than a third of young people came to the centre for a meal, and a quarter needed transport.[4]
Integration with daytime youth outreach services to enable effective and efficient follow-up and case management of young people as needed.
Engage the most at-risk young people through assertive outreach. The evaluation of the YDIC found that while there were high levels of young people accessing after-hours services at the centre, a core group of marginalised young people from 12-17 years, mostly Aboriginal, were not accessing the program.
Flexibility in service delivery to respond to what’s going in our community, including school-holidays and major events such as COVID-19.
Developed in collaboration with local youth service providers, young people, families and community members.
Coordinated and collaborative approach across government and non-government service providers.
Participatory evaluation funded by government to make sure the service model is meeting community need and enable ongoing service improvement. Measures of success should focus on the quality of the relationship built with young people, harm minimisation and follow-up support (e.g. referrals) rather than attendance numbers.
[1] Wilson, D., Gill, C., Olaghere, A. and McClure, D. (2016) ‘Juvenile Curfew Effects on Criminal Behaviour and Victimisation: A systematic review’, Campbell Systematic Reviews, 12(1) (link)
[2] Cooper, T. and Love, T. (2017) ‘A youth curfew: A retrospective view of the rise, fall and legacy of the Northbridge Policy’, Australian Journal of Social Issues, 52(3):204-221 (link)
[3] Ibid.
[4] The main reasons why young people came to the centre were listed as to hang out (40 per cent), hungry / to have a feed (35 per cent) and transport (25 per cent). Evaluation of the Alice Springs Youth Drop-In Centre (YDIC), Tangentyere Research Hub (2006)