Justice Reform Initiative Media Release, 24 June 2026

As some governments around Australia double down on ‘tough on crime’ slogans and responses to youth crime, leading international experts are arriving with a clear message for policymakers: locking up children does not make communities safer – there is a better way.

The 2026 Reintegration Puzzle Conference (24–25 June, Adelaide) will bring together more than 350 policymakers, practitioners, researchers and people with lived experience from across Australia and around the world to explore what works to reduce incarceration for children and adults and best supports people to successfully return to community.

Hosted by the Justice Reform Initiative, the conference comes at a time when more children are being put into custody across Australia, despite overwhelming evidence that prison increases the likelihood of reoffending and causes long-term harm.

Latest figures show the number of children in prison on an average day rose by 8.5% between 2020-21 and 2024-25 – with the majority being locked up on remand pre-trial (before they have had a determination about whether they are guilty). The number of First Nations children in prison on an average day has increased by 21%.

This year’s international speakers bring powerful, real-world examples of what happens when countries choose a different path:

·       Scotland has not had any children in prison since 2024 and has moved towards a multi-agency model that provides developmentally appropriate care and support, including for children in secure care

·       New York State has reduced the number of children in prison by 82% over the last two decades. In New York City less than 100 children are placed from family court into any kind of secure facility (compared to 1300 twenty years ago)

·       Spain uses the Diagrama model which has lowered recidivism rates to around 15%, compared to historical levels of around 85%

·       Hawai’i has moved their youth justice system to a public health model focused on culturally modelled prevention, diversion and community support – closing 80% of its youth detention centres and seeing strong community safety results. (More detail on these examples below)

Justice Reform Initiative Executive Director Dr Mindy Sotiri said Australia was out of step with global best practice on youth justice, as conference speakers will explain during their visit as they also give evidence to the Senate inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system and the NSW Parliament’s Select Committee on Youth Justice.  

“Around Australia but particularly in Queensland and the Northern Territory, we are seeing governments double down on policies that push more children into prison, despite clear evidence that this approach increases harm and entrenches disadvantage,” Dr Sotiri said.

“Globally other jurisdictions are dramatically reducing the number of children behind bars and achieving better outcomes as a result. We can do the same to build safer communities in Australia, but we need the political will to take a different approach.”

Dr Sotiri said the conference would bring together lived experience, research and policy expertise at a critical moment in the national debate, offering insights which could be translated into evidence-based policy actions.

“We need to take all crime seriously, including crime committed by children. But we also need to be very pragmatic about what the evidence says works when it comes to crime prevention,” she said.

“Imprisoning kids increases the likelihood of future – and often multigenerational – incarceration. If we are serious about community safety, we need to invest in what actually works: that means addressing the drivers of crime, including access to housing, healthcare, education and connection to community.”

Justice Reform Initiative Chair Robert Tickner AO said the continued overuse of prison for children reflects a failure to address the drivers of crime.

“Locking up children is one of the clearest examples of policy failure,” Mr Tickner said. “We know that the earlier a child is incarcerated, the more likely they are to remain trapped in the justice system. Yet we continue to invest in approaches that make this problem worse.”

“This conference demonstrates that there are credible, evidence-based policy solutions that reduce crime, reduce reoffending, and give young people a real chance to thrive.”

International and local speakers

The 2026 program features global leaders who have driven major reductions in the incarceration of children and young people:

·       Karyn McCluskey (Scotland) – Chief Executive of Community Justice Scotland and a key architect of reforms that have dramatically reduced the use of prison for children.

·       Vincent Schiraldi (USA) – Former New York City Correction Commissioner, instrumental in policies that led to an 85% reduction in youth incarceration.

·       David McGuire (Spain) – Senior leader at Fundación Diagrama, which delivers rehabilitation programs with significantly lower recidivism outcomes.

·       Matelina Aulava (Hawai’i) – Director of Hawai’i’s Office of Youth Services, driving a shift to culturally modelled prevention and public health-informed approaches to youth justice that have led to both reductions in incarceration and crime for children and young people.

Local keynote speakers include South Australia’s Guardian for Children and Young People Shona Reid, Ngarrindjeri/Kaura Elder Major ‘Moogy’ Sumner AM and Kaurna/Narungga Elder Uncle Frank Wangutya Wanganeen.

For more information visit https://www.rpconference.com.au/ or https://www.justicereforminitiative.org.au/

Media contact:  Amy Price 0437 027 156

The Initiative respectfully acknowledges and supports the current and longstanding efforts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to reduce the numbers of Indigenous people incarcerated in Australia and, importantly, the leadership role which Indigenous-led organisations continue to play on this issue. We also acknowledge the work of many other individuals and organisations seeking change, such as those focused on the rate of imprisonment for women, people with mental health issues, people with disability and others.

Further background:

Scotland: Scotland reduced the use of custody for children through a preventative Whole System Approach (WSA), early intervention, and legislative reforms like the Children (Care and Justice)  (Scotland) Act 2024, which legally defines all under-18s as children and prevents them from being remanded or sentenced to Young Offenders Institutions. These changes helped achieve a 97% reduction in 16 and 17-year-olds being sentenced to custody between 2008 and 2022. NOTE: While Victoria has adopted a few elements of the ‘Scottish model’ by creating a Violence Reduction Model, so far no Australian government has committed to the breadth of reform similar to those that are achieving positive outcomes in Scotland.

New York City: The Close to Home Act realigned New York’s youth justice system with research and best practices, prioritising investments in programs and resources within and around the neighbourhoods in which young people live. By 2016, New York City no longer sent any young people from its Family Courts to state-operated prisons. Today fewer than 100 children and young people are placed from Family Court into any kind of residential facility – and most of these go to smaller more home-like settings.

Spain: Diagrama is an international non-profit organisation that has pioneered an alternative to prison for children.Diagrama operates over 35 custodial centres across Spain for young people aged 14 to 23 who are remanded or sentenced to custody, typically for serious and persistent violence-related offences. The Diagrama model has demonstrated significantly reduced rates of recidivism, with operational costs comparable to or lower than those of other providers. The model has also been implemented across France and the United Kingdom. Diagrama’s centres are home-like, safe, and structured around education and reintegration. The staffing model is fundamentally different from conventional youth detention: degree-qualified social educators form warm, consistent, parent-like relationships with young people, while a multi-disciplinary professional team (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, occupational therapists, reintegration workers) provides assessments, case planning, and community reintegration programs. Security staff play a minimal and passive role.

Hawai’i: Reforms in Hawai’i particularly focused on providing adequate community-led and culturally modelled alternatives at the point of police interaction to divert children away from the system. The reforms reduced court referrals, improved probation for justice-involved young people, and engaged with community-based programs centred around community-based support. Hawai’i has reduced the number of children in prison by 82% and reduced youth crime overall by 86%. By 2022, Hawaiʻi announced that there were zero girls incarcerated for the first time since 1961.