Breaking the Cycle includes seven initiatives to target at-risk young people to get them onto a better path and away from a lifetime of crime.

This is what the Territory Government has implemented:

  • Appointment of seven additional Youth Outreach Officers to provide a new night service. Youth Outreach and Re-engagement Officers (YOREOs) engage with young people identified as being regularly involved in crime. They have expanded their service to include seven days a week from 8pm-3am. YOREOs are specialist professional youth workers assigned to provide intensive support to young people up to the age of 17 who are unsupervised in public places in Alice Springs. They make dedicated referrals for ongoing support, programs and services to government and non-government youth services according to the needs of the young person. YOREOs work closely with NT Police, Territory Families Youth Outreach and Re-Engagement Team (YORET) and non-government youth services to ensure the safety of and ongoing support for young people.
  • Expansion of the youth drop-in centres at Gap Youth and Community Centre and Tangentyere Council Brown Street are now operating seven nights a week, and have extended their bus service.
  • Expansion of the hours of the Tangentyere Night Patrol to get young people off the streets. Patrols now run seven nights a week from 6pm-3am.
  • Creation of an Aboriginal Youth Outreach Service. The Aboriginal Youth Outreach Service builds community cohesion and resilience by supporting cultural activities and events. In addition a team of senior, respected Aboriginal outreach workers provide advice and support to youth engagement officers and mentor young Aboriginal people, drawing on the cultural authority of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group and Tangentyere Council Men’s Four Corners Group.
  • Allocation of two School Engagement Officers to work with young people who have been identified as being disengaged from schooling. These officers have been appointed.
  • Allocation of three School Compliance Officers to work with young people when attempts to increase school attendance has not been successful. These officers have been appointed.
  • Place more mobile CCTV cameras in antisocial behaviour hotspots. Mobile CCTV cameras allow police to rapidly deploy an overt surveillance capability that can be monitored live to assist in detecting incidents and identifying and prosecuting offenders.

Mparntwe/Alice Springs Youth Action Plan 2019-2021

The Mparntwe/Alice Springs Youth Action Plan 2019-2021 (Youth Action Plan) was launched in October 2019.  It is a key component of the Regional Youth Services Framework established by the Northern Territory Government in April 2018.

The Youth Action Plan was developed in collaboration with key community partners, including young people, and outlines the goals and priorities for the community over two-years. The Youth Action Plan is focused on Mparntwe/Alice Springs and surrounding town camps, however, over the next two years there will be a broader regional approach to planning and investment in services.

The goals of the Youth Action Plan are:

  • Build capacity of existing youth services to enable long-term sustainable change
  • Improve outcomes for young people in the Youth Justice system
  • Better support for remote communities
  • Support the development and implementation of mentoring programs for Aboriginal young people
  • Improve education, training, development and employment outcomes for disengaged youth
  • Develop integrated programs for young people who are out late at night
  • Encourage the development of housing options that are flexible and responsive to the needs of young people

Read the plan

Cross agency efforts

A range of cross agency efforts to tackle youth crime in Alice Springs has also been introduced, including:

  • Impartyemwerre: Alice Springs Interagency Family and Youth Operational Framework: focuses on young people (and their families) to ensure issues causing bad behaviour are identified and tackled to reduce the likelihood of future offending or reoffending. The Framework comprises Ure Group (high risk), Kwatye Group (medium risk), and Kwerte Group (low risk and emerging). The Framework provides overarching objectives, principles, and reporting lines across the three groups.
  • School-based policing, with a more flexible approach than the previous school policing program, to provide more flexibility to target at risk young people. The program focuses on positive youth engagement and delivery of vital safety education.
  • $1.75 million each year for youth activities in Alice Springs for after hours and during school holidays.
  • The $5 million Back on Track program is an alternative and intensive youth intervention program that provides alternative pathways to divert young people away from the youth justice system. The program addresses at risk behaviour, consequences and reparation to reduce offending, ensure offenders face the impact of their actions and become productive members of our community.
  • Funding for 10 non-government organisations to provide youth diversion services across 48 locations throughout the Territory, including restorative justice conferences where the young offender and the victim are present.
  • Government-funded nightly security patrols conducted by Talice Security throughout the Alice Springs CBD.
  • The $20 million revitalisation of the CBD includes a $5 million Crime Prevention through Environmental Design suite of initiatives, including the construction of safety zones, and improved lighting and wayfinding.

Download the Alice Springs Breaking the Cycle fact sheet here PDF (192.2 KB)