The Worth A Second Chance Podcast

Welcome to the third season of the Worth A Second Chance podcast – sharing true stories, challenges and solutions from the frontlines of Australia's youth justice systems. Youth justice in Australia is at a tipping point. Right across the country, we’re seeing young people locked up in harsh prison environments that we know aren’t stopping crime. Reoffending rates are high, and kids aren’t getting the support they need to turn their lives around. It’s clear our current approaches aren’t...

Victorians will vote in a state election on Saturday. Every election is important, and this one comes as many Victorians continue to experience hardship and disadvantage. The current government has enacted a range of important reforms that work towards reducing inequality – like stronger support for kids leaving out-of-home care, and a new youth justice framework that will give young people the support they need to turn their lives around – but there’s more to be done. For 45 years, Jesuit...

The recent fatal beating of a young Aboriginal boy in Perth has shone a light on a range of issues impacting Aboriginal youth in the community. Sadly, it’s something that happens everywhere, including on the streets of Mparntwe, or Alice Springs, where we’re calling into today. Northern Australia is no stranger to headlines about youth crime rates. The Northern Territory has the highest rate of youth imprisonment in the country. It locks up kids at a rate of about five times the national...

Most of us know what a prison typically looks like. Cells, bars, locks, barbed wire, high fences – generally pretty harsh places. But picture this instead. Not hundreds of beds but just eight, for the whole facility. Located in the neighbourhood, not hundreds of kilometres out of the way. An environment that feels more like a home than a jail; semi-open, not locked up, and where staff and residents have dynamic and respectful relationships. It’s not a pipedream – it’s the idea that won Dr...

Victoria Police process around seven thousand young people every year. If you were an officer, you’d meet them every day – from the kids pinching chocolate from the shops and skateboarding without their helmets, to the less common and more serious behaviour, like breaking into cars. How many warnings and lectures could you give before you started wondering if anyone was really listening? Dean McGowan recently finished up after thirty-three years with Victoria Police. He’s investigated some...

Imagine you’re a kind-hearted community development worker, who believes young people are worthy, and need support, not punishment, when they do the wrong thing – and then one night, one of those kids breaks into your house. That happened to Dave Hammond. He’s worked for many years in homelessness and community services, including previously leading Jesuit Social Services’ work in western Sydney. A 14-year-old boy was one member of a group who broke into Dave and his wife Sal’s house a few...

When a young person commits a crime, some people might call for them to be sent to jail. A place to punish them, to keep the community safe, and to deter others from doing the same thing. But the evidence tells us prisons aren’t effective at stopping crime. Eighty per cent of young people in Victoria will reoffend within a year of leaving detention, and the experience of being isolated in a harsh prison environment doesn’t help someone get on a better path. Now, new research shows that an...

Research tells us there’s a clear link between youth homelessness and involvement with the criminal justice system. Young people who are un-homed are more likely to engage in what’s called ‘survival crimes’, like stealing, to meet their needs, and are more likely to be seen and caught by police while they’re doing it. And people already in the justice system are more likely to be homeless as they come out, because of the challenges they face in finding work and accommodation with a criminal...

Laws and policies are created by our leaders. But in a democracy, like Australia, everyday people can influence the decisions they make. And in the youth justice system, that’s really important. If we care about the children in detention and about how they’re supported to understand the impact of their actions and make changes in their lives, then we need to let our government know. Liana Buchanan returns in today's episode of the Worth A Second Chance podcast. She's the principal...

A Maori or Pasifika young person in Victoria’s criminal justice system might come across Jes Wikaira. She’s a cultural and intensive support worker on a program called the Youth Justice Community Support Service, which helps young people reset their lives and connect with the support they need after being in contact with the law. Jes works with and advocates for young people who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. That’s important, because they make up around forty...

On an average night in Australia, there's around 800 young people locked up in youth detention. But what do we know from there? What are the conditions like inside those facilities? What support do young people get to turn their lives around? And who makes sure everything's running as it should be? To answer those questions, meet Liana Buchanan. She's the principal commissioner at the Commission for Children and Young People in Victoria, which is the state's independent advocate for the...

Have you heard the term 'restorative justice' but don't know exactly what it is? Have you ever wondered what is involved in a youth justice group conference? Either way this is the podcast for you. Re-visit our Community Check-in with Genevieve Higgins, Manager of Community Justice Programs, who shares with us the values and processes that underpin this holistic and therapeutic approach to justice. Towards the end of this check-in Genevieve shares with us a moving group conferencing story...

​Elle Jackson, Manager of Justice Programs in the NT shares with us her insights into youth justice in the NT and expands on why raising the age of legal responsibility will change the lives of young people all over Australia.

Luke Anderson is a Public speaker, social entrepreneur and electrical contractor. Luke has lived experience with the justice system and in this podcast he generously shares his life’s story with us. You can get in touch with Luke by connecting with him on LinkedIn.

Vincent Schiraldi co-founded the Justice Lab at Columbia University. The Justice Lab is devoted to reducing society’s reliance the criminal justice system as a solution to social problems through research; education; and convening scholars, practitioners, policy makers, advocates and formerly incarcerated people. Projects include eliminating youth prisons, reducing the footprint and negative impact of community corrections, and creating a developmentally appropriate response to offending by...

Bernie Shakeshaft is the founder and CEO of BackTrack YouthWorks in Armidale NSW. He has spent the past 25 years living out his passion, working with dogs and supporting kids at risk. In 2006 with his children growing up and forging their own paths in life, he was determined to turn his vision of working with the most disadvantaged young people in our communities into a reality. To keep them alive, out of jail, and chasing their hopes and dreams. Under Bernie’s leadership, BackTrack has...