A re-elected majority Liberal Government will invest $3.7 million into JCP Youth over three years to support at-risk young Tasmanians.

As part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, we will invest in JCP Youth’s innovative model that offers a community-based response to high-risk youth 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said we know youth crime is a serious and growing concern across our communities and we are committed to a multi-faceted approach to address it.

“Earlier in this campaign, I announced that we would invest in a new Strike Force to address youth crime, as well as introduce new laws such as “Post and Boast” to try and reduce copy-cat behaviour,” Premier Rockliff said.

“What we will also do is invest where we can in initiatives that seek to divert and prevent young people from offending, which is what this investment in JCP is all about.

“It will support the not-for-profit organisation to increase the number of young people engaged in the Beast program, diverting more young Tasmanians from reoffending and youth detention,” Premier Rockliff said.

“The additional funding will also provide more facilitators to increase engagement with high-risk participants, update vehicles and support the Safe House, which provides eight respite accommodation options.

“We want to reduce youth crime to keep our community safe and ensure young people are contributing positively to the community.

"A re-elected majority Liberal Government will also provide $2.3 million to support innovative local initiatives and partnerships that target the root causes of youth offending in local communities and engage young people in education, training, employment, sport and the arts, alongside formal diversion and restorative justice approaches.

“These investments build on our already released Youth Justice Blueprint, which outlines our plan to reduce youth reoffending and improve life outcomes for at-risk young people.”

Only a re-elected majority Liberal Government has a Strong Plan to deliver the interventions at-risk young people need to prevent them from re-offending and help them build become happy, healthy and positive members of their community.