Adj Professor Luke Butcher

Leadership in youth justice is crucial to reform and yet is poorly understood
Leadership models in health and education can be applied to youth justice
An evidence-based leadership framework is essential to reform priorities

Authored chapter Intersectional Rurality and Youth Justice in New South Wales

Recent years have seen significant policy and practice interest in how to best respond to the impact of childhood maltreatment and adversity on young people’s contact with youth justice systems. In Australia, this has resulted in increasing pressure to implement trauma-informed practice, although this is a term that has different meanings for different stakeholders, and little is known about the perspectives of justice-involved young people. This paper aims to review what is currently known… Show more

Recent years have seen significant policy and practice interest in how to best respond to the impact of childhood maltreatment and adversity on young people’s contact with youth justice systems. In Australia, this has resulted in increasing pressure to implement trauma-informed practice, although this is a term that has different meanings for different stakeholders, and little is known about the perspectives of justice-involved young people. This paper aims to review what is currently known about co-production in youth justice and discuss ways in which young people can be meaningfully involved in the development of trauma-informed practice frameworks Show less

This chapter considers various ways in which current forensic assessment practices can contribute to cultural bias and inequity – both at the level of the individual practitioner and more systemically. We consider bias in terms of a general tendency to discriminate against outgroups as well as, more specifically, in relation to the forensic interview and the use of psychometric tests. The chapter highlights how important it is that clinicians engage in critical reflexivity in relation to both… Show more

This chapter considers various ways in which current forensic assessment practices can contribute to cultural bias and inequity – both at the level of the individual practitioner and more systemically. We consider bias in terms of a general tendency to discriminate against outgroups as well as, more specifically, in relation to the forensic interview and the use of psychometric tests. The chapter highlights how important it is that clinicians engage in critical reflexivity in relation to both cultural and racial bias. It is suggested that they have a responsibility to minimise bias by engaging service-users and cultural consultants and by preparing carefully for the assessment. Show less

The national Closing the Gap reform provides a mandate for mainstream organisations to undergo structural transformation to better address the needs and concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In the criminal justice sector, the reform resonates strongly with ongoing discussions about how both policy and practice can address the significant over-representation of Aboriginal people across the criminal justice system. One way that structural transformation can occur is… Show more

The national Closing the Gap reform provides a mandate for mainstream organisations to undergo structural transformation to better address the needs and concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In the criminal justice sector, the reform resonates strongly with ongoing discussions about how both policy and practice can address the significant over-representation of Aboriginal people across the criminal justice system. One way that structural transformation can occur is through the genuine involvement of Aboriginal knowledge holders and communities in policy development. This study illustrates how this might happen in relation to youth justice policy and programme design. Eighteen Aboriginal community members from a town in rural New South Wales participated in a series of interviews relevant to the Closing the Gap target. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify four key themes relevant to the development of justice policy: supporting cultural identity in a post-colonial context; articulating strengths and resources which can be mobilised in the community; the centrality of poverty to offending; and responding to intergenerational trauma. The study illustrates how non-Indigenous policymakers and practitioners might approach the task of engagement and consultation by identifying Aboriginal knowledge as a legitimate epistemic resource that they can draw upon to guide the ongoing development of evidence-based policy and programmes. Show less

This thesis investigated how youth justice programs could better support Aboriginal young people from rural communities. The impact of colonisation and social disadvantage were major factors contributing to Aboriginal young people’s contact with NSW Youth Justice. The findings informed a new theory to guide the design of youth justice programs.

Aboriginal young people from rural areas in Australia are significantly over-represented in the
youth justice system, and yet there is little evidence to indicate that current programs are having
measurable success on rates of re-offending, suggesting alternative approaches are required.
Drawing on new directions in human service policy that emphasise the importance of involving
community in program design, this study reports the findings of a consultation with… Show more

Aboriginal young people from rural areas in Australia are significantly over-represented in the
youth justice system, and yet there is little evidence to indicate that current programs are having
measurable success on rates of re-offending, suggesting alternative approaches are required.
Drawing on new directions in human service policy that emphasise the importance of involving
community in program design, this study reports the findings of a consultation with Aboriginal
community members from one rural community to identify how the ecological validity of youth
justice programs may be increased to be more responsive to local need. Eighteen Aboriginal
community members from a town in Western New South Wales participated in semi-
structured interviews, guided by a culturally informed research methodology. Qualitative con-
tent analysis was used to identify key themes that the community saw as important in program
design, highlighting the need for consistent levels of support for local and community-driven
solutions. Proposed conditions to enhance the ecological validity of programs are discussed. Show less

This paper examines how rurality and Aboriginality influence the risk need scores of first time young offenders across New South Wales. Recommendations for further research discussed.

This article reports on a qualitative study that examined the organisational enablers and barriers to implementing peer support work in an Australian, rural, community‐based mental health service.

This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for integrating peer support in mental health. After reviewing the contemporary literature, it considers how the findings of a recent qualitative case study, which examined the perspectives of mental health service users (n =  11) on service-user participation and evidence-based practice, might inform the introduction of a peer support program into a mental health service provided by a large Australian non-government organisation