Performance Report2018-19Department of Youth Justice

Public availability of reportThis performance report is available on our website at: https://www.youthjustice.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/annual-report.

For further information please contact us on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) or visit the contact details page on our website at: https://www.youthjustice.qld.gov.au/contact-us .

For copies of the report in paper form please contact:

Office of the Director-General, Department of Youth Justice Locked Bag 3405, Brisbane Qld 4001Phone: (07) 3097 8603Email: ODG_YJ@youthjustice.qld.gov.au

Open Data reporting for additional information is reported by the Department of Child Safety Youth and Women and available at: https://data.qld.gov.au/.

The Queensland Government is committed to providing accessible services to Queenslanders from all culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. If you have difficulty understanding the annual report, you can contact us on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) and we will arrange an interpreter to effectively communicate the annual report to you.

© The State of Queensland (Department of Youth Justice) 2019

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AttributionContent from this report should be attributed as: The State of Queensland (Department of Youth Justice) Performance Report 2018-19.

Performance Report 2018-19

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25 September 2019

The Honourable Di Farmer MPMinister for Child Safety, Youth and Women andMinister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence

Dear Minister

The Department of Youth Justice has received approval to prepare its first Financial Statements and Annual Report for the period 1 June 2019 to 30 June 2020.

In order to ensure accountability and transparency, I am pleased to submit for presentation to the Parliament a Performance Report 2018-19 for the Department of Youth Justice.

The report provides details of performance for the service areas transitioned to the new Department of Youth Justice against the 2018-19 Budget Paper No. 5 – Service Delivery Statement and is prepared on the basis of the current administrative arrangements for this agency applying for the whole of the past financial year. That is, it reflects the structure, operations and performance of the department as it now exists, after Youth Justice Services was transferred to the new Department of Youth Justice, pursuant to machinery-of-government changes effective 20 May 2019.

This Performance Report has been prepared with consideration of the relevant requirements set out in the Annual Report requirements for Queensland Government agencies.

Financial information and annual reporting requirements for Youth Justice Services until 31 May 2019 are included in the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women Annual Report 2018-19. This service transferred from the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women to the Department of Youth Justice effective 1 June 2019.

Yours sincerely

Robert GeeDirector-GeneralDepartment of Youth Justice

About the reportMachinery-of-government changesAs a result of machinery-of-government changes that came into effect on 20 May 2019, Youth Justice Services transferred from the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women to the new Department of Youth Justice. The following table outlines outgoing service areas.

Incoming service area: Transferred from:

Youth Justice Services Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women

Financial and non-financial performance periodsThe Department of Youth Justice has received approval to prepare its first Financial Statements and Annual Report for the period 1 June 2019 to 30 June 2020.

In accordance with the Annual report requirements for Queensland Government agencies, non-financial performance for Youth Justice Services are reported in this performance report on the basis that the service area has been in place for the full financial year to 30 June 2019. The first annual report and financial statements will reflect the establishment of the Department of Youth Justice effective 1 June 2019 to 30 June 2020.

In order to ensure accountability and transparency, non-financial performance for the new Department of Youth Justice has been prepared on the basis of the current administrative arrangements for this agency applying for the whole of the past financial year to 30 June 2019. That is, it reflects the structure, operations and performance of the department as it now exists.

Financial performance for Youth Justice Services until 31 May 2019 is included in the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women financial statements and annual report 2018-19, which can be found at: https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/corporate-publications/annual-report.

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Director-General’s messageThis Performance Report represents the non-financial performance as at 30 June 2019 for the Youth Justice Services, which transitioned to the new Department of Youth Justice as a result of machinery-of-government changes effective 20 May 2019.

Our service deliveryThe new Department of Youth Justice was established on 20 May 2019, following the development of the Working Together Changing the Story: Youth Justice Strategy 2019-2023 (the Strategy). The Strategy is based on Mr Bob Atkinson’s AO APM independent review of the youth justice system and recommendations in his 2018 Report on Youth Justice. Mr Atkinson recommended that the Government adopt four objectives, which he called the ‘four pillars’. These are to intervene early, keep children out of court, keep children out of custody and reduce re-offending. Importantly, these pillars are framed by two principles – public safety is paramount and community confidence is essential.

The Youth Justice Strategy Action Plan 2019-21 is to be published in July this year, and will set out the practical steps the Department is taking to ensure the implementation of the Government’s reform agenda and reduce youth offending and re-offending in Queensland. The Government has made it clear that in establishing the new Department of Youth Justice, with extensive investment in diversionary programs and new infrastructure, it is committed to holding young people accountable for their actions, reducing crime and keeping young people out of detention and adult watch houses. Our approach, along with funding for whole of government solutions to treating the causes of crime, is evidence-based and focused on delivering long-term results.

The department has made significant progress, in a very short time, in implementing a structure and processes to support the implementation of the Strategy but we still have a lot of work to do with our key partners.

New programs have been expanded and implemented across the state to intervene early, address the causes of crime and engage with families and communities. This is designed to support individuals, families and communities to develop positive and culturally appropriate solutions. This includes the implementation of Enhanced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services, which will be operational in eleven locations, and family led decision making programs. 

The department is introducing new diversionary and bail support programs along with new legislation, the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019, to reduce the number of children remanded in custody and ensure the safety and wellbeing of children held in detention. The legislative amendments will recognise community safety is paramount while removing barriers that may contribute to children being refused bail, breaching bail conditions or remaining in detention on remand for an extended period.

The department is on track to deliver a new detention centre at Wacol and increased capacity at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre, while also expanding intensive support services to reduce reoffending and increase community safety. These programs include the expansion of Transition 2 Success, from 11 to 20 sites across the state. We are very proud of the results on the ground as a result of this program. As at 30 June 2019, there had been 550 enrolments in a T2S course with 406 (74 per cent) participants completing one or more certificates and many moving to employment and further education.

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Our future stateThe department’s future priorities will be outlined in our Action Plan once published - https://www.youthjustice.qld.gov.au/reform/youth-justice-strategy-action-plan-2019-2021

We are committed to keeping communities safe, building capacity within the department and improving the safety, well-being and capability of our staff.

Our staff, no matter where they work including courts, in support and monitoring programs and in detention centres, are dedicated and committed to changing the story for vulnerable young Queenslanders.

We thank the agencies which provide oversight of our detention centres for their support and advice in ensuring best practice and continuous improvement. We will continue to work with them to make sure that the spirit and the intent of the new Queensland Human Rights Act 2019 informs everything that we do in Youth Justice.

We are committed to addressing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and supporting family and community-led change.

We are working with our partners in health, housing, education, police and justice, and with community leaders, to deliver a whole of government and community approach to reducing youth crime. We thank our stakeholders for continuing to engage, as part of the solution and work to address the causes of offending and reoffending.

Addressing victimisation of young people and social disadvantage will further reduce the very small minority of young people that enter or remain in the Youth Justice system.

Working together we have achieved a lot in a short time-frame and although we still have a lot more to do, I am confident we have the right strategies, programs, people and partnerships to achieve the objectives set out in the Strategy.

Robert GeeDirector-GeneralDepartment of Youth Justice

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Financial performanceA comprehensive view of the department’s financial performance until 31 May 2019 is provided in the Financial Statements sections of the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women Annual Report 2018-19, which can be found at: https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/corporate-publications/annual-report.

Government objectives for the communityOur contribution to Our Future State: Advancing Queensland’s Priorities: Keep communities safe: We lead the priority to reduce rates of youth offending. Give all our children a great start: We support the priority to ensure the next generation of

Queenslanders are healthy, resilient, and ready to be productive members of society Create jobs in a strong economy: We support the priority to engage more young

Queenslanders in education, training and work. Be a responsive government: We support the priority to make services easy to use.

Our strategic planYouth Justice Services was included in the Department of Child Safety Youth and Women Strategic Plan 2018-2022, which can be found at: https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/corporate-publications/strategic-plan.

The inaugural Department of Youth Justice Strategic Plan 2019-2023 will be published at: https://www.youthjustice.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/strategic-plan and is reflected in the statements below.

Our vision is to have a safe community with the lowest rate of youth offending in the world.

Our department will work with young people, families, victims of crime, other agencies and communities to change the story for the small minority of young people who come into contact with the youth justice system.

Our strategic objectives are to:

Intervene early Address the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in

the youth justice system Improve social, economic and civic participation Keep children out of court and custody Reduce recidivism Improve the safety, wellbeing and capability of our staff.

The Department of Youth Justice performance for 2018-19 is reported in accordance with the previously approved service delivery standard measures used for quarterly reports over the past financial year.

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Performance scorecardService standards and other measures

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2017

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2018

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2018

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Youth Justice Services1

Percentage of orders supervised in the community that are successfully completed:

1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young offenders

2 79% 79% 81%

2. Other young offenders 85% 85% 83%

3. All young offenders 81% 80% 82%

Proportion of young offenders who have another charged offence within 12 months of an initial finalisation for a proven offence

2, 3, 4, 5 74% 70% 74%

Youth detention centre utilisation rate 2, 6 95% <85% 89%

Notes:

1. This service area was transferred from the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women following machinery-of-government changes.

2. From February 2018, young people who offended at the age of 17 years were transitioned to Youth Justice following changes to the Youth Justice Act 1992. The 2019-20 Target/Estimate includes young people aged 10-17 years. The results for previous years include young people aged 10-16 years.

3. This annual measure reports on recidivism. All Target/estimate and Estimated Actual data for this measure relates to young offenders aged 10-15 years. Measuring recidivism is complex due to the varying nature, detection and processing of offending and offenders, and the variety of ways to measure reoffending. Youth Justice uses a prevalence measure as it is the most robust available. Because recidivism can only be reported 12 months after the reference period, this measure will be reported each year using data from the previous year. The impact of any new youth justice interventions will not be fully reflected in reoffending data for up to two years after implementation.

4. This effectiveness measure reflects the offending of all young people (aged 10-15) in Queensland who have had a proven charge, regardless of whether or not they had prior contact with the youth justice system or had received youth justice services. It is a measure that not only identifies youth justice performance, but also the whole-of-government response to criminogenic forces.

5. This measure counts young people who are sentenced in court in the reference period. This includes young people who are sentenced in court for the first time ever during the reference period, and young people with a court case that precedes their first-occurring sentencing appearance in court during the reference period.

6. This annual measure reports on youth detention centre utilisation as a percentage of total capacity. Availability of beds and utilisation is impacted by a range of dynamic factors in order to ensure a safe environment for young people and staff.  These include but are not limited to: security and maintenance upgrades, damage to rooms or beds by young people, and maintaining appropriate separations of offenders with different ages, sex, needs and risk factors, security levels, complex behaviours and disorders and remand/sentenced status.

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Governance, accountability and human resourcesThrough 2018-19 Youth Justice Services was supported by the existing CSYW governance structure.

The new Department of Youth Justice’s governance committees during 2019-20 will be as follows:

Executive Leadership Team Demand and Resources Committee Audit and Risk Committee (shared with DCSYW) Fraud and Corruption Control Committee (shared with DCSYW) First Nations Council (shared with DCSYW) Information and Innovation Committee (shared with DCSYW and DCDSS).

Information on committees shared with DCSYW can be found in the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women Annual Report 2018-19 at: https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/corporate-publications/annual-report

Executive Leadership TeamThe Executive Leadership Team is the key strategic governing body for the department, which meets weekly to drive the department’s strategic goals. Each month the team forms the Demand and Resources Committee to focus on financial and human resource performance.

Executive Leadership Team members as at 30 June 2019 are listed below:

Robert Gee, Director-General Darren Hegarty, Acting Deputy Director-General Lisa Pollard, Acting Senior Executive Director, Youth Justice Strategy and Corporate Services Sandra Moore, Regional Executive Director.

Workforce planning and performance Workforce profilesThe service delivery breakdown of our 1496.19 active paid full-time equivalent staff is highlighted below. This figure is post machinery-of-government change, as at 30 June 2019.

Service Delivery Department Total

Frontline and frontline support 1443.44 (96.47)

Corporate 52.75 (3.53%)

Total 1496.19 (100%)

A breakdown of our active paid full-time equivalent employment status is as follows:

1104.28 permanent staff (73.81% of the total staff) 276.63 temporary staff (18.49% of the total staff)

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109.28 casual staff (7.3% of the total staff) 6 contract staff (0.4% of the total staff).

The department’s employment diversity (as at 21 June 2019) compared to the Queensland Public Sector (QPS) benchmark average (as at the quarter ended 31 March 2019) is detailed below.

Diversity category Department1 QPS average

Gender Diversity – Women 54.96% 69.55%

Culturally and linguistically diverse 6.1% 9.51%

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 8.44% 2.26%

People experiencing disability 1.60% 2.87%

Notes:1. As at pay period ended 21 June 2019, the Equal Employment Opportunity response rate was

50.15% for the department compared to the Public Service Commission target response rate of 85%.

Organisational structureThe organisational structure for the Department of Youth Justice can be found at the following link: https://www.youthjustice.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-department/our-structure

Complaints management, information systems and recordkeepingComplaints management systemThe department provides a complaints management system, in accordance with 219A of the Public Service Act 2008, allowing clients and the general public the opportunity to voice their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our services. From 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019, 16 complaints were received relating to Youth Justice Services.

In accordance with section 219A of the Public Service Act 2008, by 30 September each year we are required to publish the following information on the department’s website:

number of customer complaints received by the department in the year number of those complaints resulting in further action number of those complaints resulting in no further action.

This information can be found at: https://www.youthjustice.qld.gov.au/contact-us/compliments-complaints.

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Public service values and ethics The department has embraced the Queensland public sector values (customers first, ideas into action, unleash potential, be courageous and empower people) which define the way we do business. We pursue a positive organisational culture that fosters a high performing, impartial and productive workforce to actively support Queensland’s most vulnerable people.

We are committed to the highest level of ethical conduct and promote a culture that reflects the department’s integrity framework, ensuring any allegation of corrupt conduct is taken seriously and thoroughly assessed. Public service values and ethics are reflected in our departmental policies, procedures and plans. The department also regularly provides ethical decision-making and code of conduct training.

Allegations of corrupt conduct, or breach of the Code of Conduct for the Queensland Public Service or certain legislation are referred to the department’s Professional Standards Unit to ensure all allegations are properly assessed. The matter is assessed with consideration given to the definition of corrupt conduct outlined in section 15 of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001 and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010.

Corrupt conduct matters are either retained by the Professional Standards Unit for investigation or transferred to the appropriate region/business area for management action in accordance with the Integrity Framework. Youth Justice reports certain matters of alleged corrupt conduct to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

If there is suspected criminal aspect to the conduct, the matter is referred directly to the Queensland Police Service

During 2018-19 54 corrupt conduct matters were finalised for Youth Justice Services.

Internal auditIn 2018-19, the department received its internal audit services under existing arrangements through the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women. The department is also subject to a number of external review bodies, including Queensland Audit Office, State Coroner, Crime and Corruption Commission and Queensland Ombudsman. Significant 2018-19 audits and reviews that relate to the department are noted in the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women Annual Report 2018-19 at: https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/corporate-publications/annual-report.

As a Queensland Government agency, we meet the accountability requirements of the Public Records Act 2002, as well as other whole-of-government policies and standards, including the Records Governance Policy which was released by the Queensland State Archives to supersede the Information Standard 31: Retention and disposal of public records and Information Standard 40: Recordkeeping policies. The department will continue to receive information systems and

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record keeping services through shared arrangements with the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women. Further details are provided in the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women Annual Report 2018-19 at: https://www.csyw.qld.gov.au/about-us/our-publications/corporate-publications/annual-report .

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