Ms Dannielle McKenna:

On the question of which Departments should respond, we have seen over the years the former Department of Youth Affairs has grown and children and young people are now a very small part of it, as seen in the minimal amount of funding put into youth work. The Department of Justice took on a huge piece around investment in justice projects. I am not denying the need for and importance of that work but we have to be very careful not to criminalise young people. That is what has happened because the investment has gone into the justice section. We are criminalising, particularly, young men. Young men of working-class communities are being seen in a different light. We have moved away from the principle of youth work as a needs-based response and have started to react to behaviour.

The Senator asked about different models and a model we have been talking to recently is that which was adopted in Scotland. In Glasgow, they could see a generational issue around violence in communities. Instead of seeing that as a criminal issue, it was seen as a health issue. The idea was to look at the underlying causes that violence stems from. Much of that involves trauma, inequalities and poverty that young people and communities face every day. If that is responded to in a different way, it changes. They got all the stakeholders to come together. Another thing was the social work departments were not responding because they said if it was not happening in the home, it was not a child protection issue and that community violence was not the same but was a justice issue. What we need to take away is how to keep children, young people and communities safe. To do that, we have to look at it in a different way and respond in a way that is not about penalising and justice. It has to be communities moving together in solidarity with Departments and wraparound services from everybody.