Karen Chhour: Children's Minister on the teen offender dropping out of youth boot camp pilot two weeks in

The Children's Minister says it's unsurprising a young offender has dropped out of the Government boot camp pilot just two weeks in.

Participants can opt out under current legislation, although the Government plans to amend the law.

Minister Karen Chhour says she won't go into detail on why they left, to protect their privacy, but staff expected this possibility.

She says the programme includes wrap-around support.

"We're making sure that we could get them in front of a judge to change their sentencing plan - so this young person hasn't got off lightly. They're still completing their sentence, it'll just be at another facility."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So here's an update on how the military style boot
camps are going. One kid has already bunked out. They're
going to instead complete their sentence at another youth justice facility. Otherwise,
apparently it's going well. Minister for Children Karen chawes with us.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Now, Hey, Karen, Hey, how's it going very well?

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Thank you? Did the child choose to leave or did
you guys ask the child to leave?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
The young person has chosen to leave for personal reasons,
and we were kind of expecting that this may happen.
So staff, we're ready for that, wrapping around that young person,
making sure that we could get them in front of
a judge to change their sentencing plan because now they'll
have to complete their sentence at another youth justice facility.

(00:42):
So this young person hasn't got off lately. They'll still
be completing their sentence, it will just be at another facility.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
What went wrong, Oh, I.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Wouldn't say anything went wrong. This is a pilot program.
We've always said that if their young person does not
want to continue, that they have that choice. I wouldn't
want to go into too much detail check the young
person's privacy because there are only ten young men. They
will be easy to kind of identify if they're going

(01:13):
too much detail. But what I will say is that
I'm really proud of these young people, these young people
who are still continuing today, who have taken on this challenge,
trying something different for a better future, and they seem
to be really enjoying themselves, giving really good feedback about
things that they would like more of, And I'm hoping

(01:34):
that this will continue as positive as it has been.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
What would they like more of?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh, they've already asked physical activities because they seem to
be quite popular with the young people. So we're looking
at ways that we can include more of that.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
When you say physical activities, Karen, do you mean going
outside and playing basketball or do you mean doing military drills?

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh? I think it might be a bit of both.
I think they really enjoy They really enjoy obstacle courses
and the workout programs on the outdoor gym and things
like that. I think there's a bit of both.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Any fighting, not.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
That I'm aware of, and not that I've been told.
I'm told that there's no safety issues and that they're
all quite positive.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I see that they start their day with a set
morning routine, they have breakfast, they have a shower, they
have military style drills, they have daily hygiene routines like
ensuring the rooms are clean, clothes are ironed, and so on,
and they have to look respectable themselves for I would
imagine for many of them, that is not the normal
start to the day, is it.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
No, This is something new, This is something that they
probably haven't had routine like this before in their lives.
On the first day when they started, I was actually
really proud of them, standing in their number ones ready
for their first day, shirts tucked in, all looking very
very smart, I'm very very proud of themselves too. The
smile made it worth it.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Okay, Karen, listen, thanks for updating us nine and how
things are going. That's Karen Schule, Minister for Children's

Speaker 2 (03:03):
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