In March the QLD Department of Justice and Attorney-General responded to YANQ's letter regarding issues raised via the YCN in 2006.  The Dept. also provided details on ways they will be engaging young people during 2006/07.

A copy of the letter is available here.  The letter includes an attachment outlining specific activities the Department will be involved with during 2006/07 that will involve consultation with young people.

The activities mentioned in the attachment are as follows:

• The development of the protocol between the Department of Child Safety and Office of the Adult Guardian, for young people turning 18 years of age who may require an adult guardian, will be progressed.
• During 2006-07 JAG will be reviewing the Community Justice Group (CJG) program with a view to focussing on court related activities, including support for young offenders. JAG will continue to provide support to Community Justice Groups throughout the State in relation to the early intervention and diversionary initiatives focussed on Indigenous youth.
• The impact the Illicit Court Diversion Program has had on young people will be part of an evaluation looking at recidivism statistics. The effect that tailored counselling packages for the 14 to 18 year old age bracket has had will be better evaluated in 2007 as part of the overall evaluation.
• The Children Services Tribunal (CST) will review the information guides currently available to young people. The CST will also present community education sessions for child protection agencies including youth advocacy centres about the role of the CST.
• The Youth Murri Court will be evaluated over a period of three years commencing 01 January 2007 The evaluation will focus on the development of this program and the operational practices supporting it.
• Continue to review our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment and Career Development Strategies and guidelines for traineeships. JAG will continue to support programs like the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education to Employment Scheme and the National Indigenous Cadetship Program. JAG will provide mentors for Indigenous trainees and scholarship holders and provide work experience placements for school and tertiary students. Placements for the 2006-07 will increase from 2005-06 period.
• Law week 2007 and the RNA show 2007 displays will be developed with young people in mind. We will again participate in online forums for Law Week.
• The Department will use the GENERATE website to:
• outline the role of Community Justice Groups in Indigenous communities and encourage young people to seek support from a CJG or to nominate to be part of the CJG in their community
• use the website to inform young people of the Homeless Persons Court Diversion Program
• inform young people of the scholarship, traineeship, cadetship, work experience and volunteer opportunities available within JAG
• engage young people as part of Law Week 2007 with online discussion forums.
• The Children Services Tribunal (CST) will use the online community consultation process to obtain feedback and comments on how best to present CST information sheets to young people. The CST will inform young people of upcoming community education sessions by using the events calendar available on the website.