YANQ, in conjunction with the INCorrections group, recently responded to the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 review. The review's potential to reform the restrictions currently placed on people who have been sentenced to 30 months or more in prison from participating in management committees. Thank you to Prisoners' Legal Service for their assistance with the submission and to all the YANQ supporters who provided letters of support.

YANQ's response is available here.

In response to the Queensland Government Multicultural Policy Review process, YANQ made the following submission on behalf of the Multicultural Youth Network of Queensland (MYNQ): response

In response to the recent State Budget 2009/10, YANQ has highlighted a few key areas for comment.  We acknowledge that not everyone can win when it comes to State funding, but there are some areas of particular concern to us.  Additionally, we have commented on the new funding for increased wages in the community sector, and where this funding will be directed. 

To download the report, click here

Click here to download YANQ's Draft Submission to the National Human Rights Consultations. The Commonwealth Government is conducting an Inquiry into human rights in Australia through a National Human Rights Consultation. YANQ's submission is now available. Thank you to our members who provided comment.

The National Human Rights Consultation has invited organisations and citizens to submit their view on the following questions:

• Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?
• Are human rights sufficiently protected and promoted?
• How could Australia better protect and promote human rights?

Heather Stewart prepared YANQ's submission in response to these questions. The submission focuses on the effectiveness of the Human Rights Charter proposed by the National Human Rights Consultation Committee.

Download YANQ's Submission here (390.65 Kb)

Young people should be able to trust in the protection of adults.Young people have a right to trust that adults will fulfil their responsibility to provide opportunities for them - opportunities to learn, to play, to make decisions for themselves, take risks, to have fun and to participate in community decision making, among others.

Queensland's Police Move-on powers are in breach of that trust.

Other Submissions

• Megan McKay & Dr Phil Crane (QUT)
• Legal Aid Queensland
• Check the Crime & Misconduct Commission's website - they often publish submissions they receive in relation to their Reviews.

When police officers use Move-on powers, whether 'legally' or as an excuse to harass or abuse young people, they send a message to young people that their community doesn't want them and doesn't value them. Not only does this risk causing serious harm to vulnerable young people, but it risks community safety.

In this submission to the Crime and Misconduct Commission, the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland makes the opposition of youth services to Police Move-on Powers in Queensland clear.

We argue that instead of punitive responses to fears of youth violence, communities need to invest in services that make it possible for young people to participate safely in all aspects of community life.

The notion of remanding a person (let alone a juvenile) into custody is an extremely serious issue. Our entire criminal justice system, inclusive of the juvenile system, works on the premise that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Yet increasingly, we are seeing young people held in juvenile prisons due to social, economic, cultural and political factors, and not necessarily legal factors.