The Member for Cook, David Kempton, has welcomed the announcement of Cairns and the Gold Coast as locations for the State Government’s youth boot camp trial.
 
The Newman Government has announced a $2 million two-year trial for a sentenced youth boot camp in Cairns and an early intervention camp on the Gold Coast.
 
“The boot camps will be a real alternative for the over-represented young people in my electorate entering the prison system," Mr Kempton said.
 
“For prisons to play their role as a deterrent they should be a port of last call in dealing with juvenile offenders.
 
"I would like to see this as a first step in a process that will lead to communities taking a greater role in dealing with the issues of juvenile crime.”
 
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The programs will give 80 young people an opportunity for rehabilitation and are aimed at deterring them from pursuing a life in crime.
 
“We will be trialling a sentenced youth boot camp in Cairns and an early intervention youth boot camp on the Gold Coast,” Mr Kempton said.
 
“The sentenced youth boot camp in Cairns is not compulsory, but will be offered to young offenders facing a custodial sentence.
 
“It will provide discipline, structure and physical training and a community-focused component on family, education and social issues.
 
“The kids will have chosen to do the program rather than go down the detention path, but it will not be the easy option."
 
The Gold Coast program is targeted at young people displaying anti-social behaviour, and is designed to address the issue before the child enters the youth justice system.