Juvenile Clean-up Program

It is felt that applying a timely consequence to offending behaviour will help provide an appropriate corrective experience for the young person, the possibility to restore as best as practicable the damage experienced by the victim, and reduce the current perception of leniency or tolerance to graffiti.

The Juvenile Clean-up Program aims to provide an alternative restorative service for Juvenile Justice Teams (JJTs) when dealing with young persons, aged between 13-17, who are first time or low level graffiti offenders. The Program operates within the paradigm of the Young Offenders Act 1994 by establishing a method of diverting a young person who commits an offence from the Court's criminal justice system by allowing JJTs to offer a suitable restorative activity should it be appropriate in the circumstances.

The Program provides an environment in which the referred young people undertake restorative activities one on one in the presence of an appropriate adult role model. It works to give the young person insight into the effects of graffiti vandalism within their community, the costs involved in its removal and to repair some of the damage caused either by the young person or other graffiti offenders.

The clean-up activities seek to develop trade skills within young people and provide them with access to trade based professionals that may assist in identifying future career pathways or contributors to a positive lifestyle.

The Juvenile Clean-up Program commenced as a 12 month pilot in January 2010 and returned a successful result with a series of recommendations for the Program. These recommendations were adopted and the Program commenced across metro WA in January 2011.

The Juvenile Clean-up Program won a Premiers Award in 2013 and was a finalist in the Strengthening Families and Communities category.