The Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing unveiled the highly anticipated Youth Strategy 2022–2027. The Strategy hopes to mark the start of a new chapter in how the Government works with the youth and community sectors to improve young people’s outcomes. The Strategy focuses on creating a path for a safer, fairer, and more equitable Victoria where every young person feels safe at home, in school, online, catching public transport or walking around their neighbourhood.
Since 2018 South-East Monash Legal Service has been engaging and educating young people in our region about their legal rights and responsibilities through the Sporting Change program. Sporting Change draws on our strong relationships with schools and local sporting clubs to educate and empower young people to understand the justice system while increasing access to justice through an integrated school lawyer.
SMLS is integrated into Dandenong High School and Hampton Park Secondary College to deliver this program. Sporting Change is supported by the State Government through the Federation of Community Legal Centres Integrated Services fund and the Victorian Legal Services Board.
Children who come into contact with the criminal justice system at this early age are more likely to re-offend and remain in the criminal justice system. With more than 80 per cent reoffending at some time, young people aged 10 to 14 years have the highest reoffending rates of all ages in the criminal justice system. Early prevention and investing in support services such as legal education and learning, can assist in keeping the youth and children from engaging in criminal offences and will pay future dividends including increasing community safety.
Young people have to navigate laws, legal systems and processes every day, often without understanding their rights or responsibilities under those systems. Our education program helps them understand areas of law that affect them, such as fines, employment law, relationships, consent and police powers. The School lawyer helps those young people who have encountered a legal problem to navigate their legal issues.
Jack had been arrested as an accessory to a crime committed by a friend. He sought assistance from the school lawyer and received legal advice about an upcoming court date. He then worked together with the sporting change youth worker to create a safety plan that assisted him to stay out of trouble until his court date. This included staying away from designated areas where he may be stopped and searched by police. At his court date, he was able to obtain a diversion and subsequently returned to school to repeat year 12 the following year.
Prior to participating in Sporting Change:
- 33% of Young people understand nothing or not much of why laws exist.
- 55% of Young people only understand ‘a little bit’ of why laws exist.
- Only 12% of Young people know where to go to get help with legal problems or even ask questions about the law outside of their friends and family.
After participating in Sporting Change:
- 85% of Young people report an increased understanding of why laws exist.
- 91% of Young people reported that participating in Sporting Change has increased their knowledge of possible consequences if they or someone they knew got into trouble with the law.
