TARGET 120 YOUTH INTERVENTION PROGRAM EXPANDS TO NEWMAN
The town of Newman in the Pilbara on lands of the Nyiyarparli and Martu people. Credit: Michael Sigrist via Wikimedia Commons.
On Monday, the state government announced it had appointed Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa Aboriginal to deliver the Target 120 program in the Pilbara town of Newman.
The early intervention program aims to prevent youth aged 10-14 years of age deemed at risk of repeat offending from having contact with the criminal justice system.
Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa organisation will provide support to children and their families, including by offering on-country trips.
Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa Youth Program Coordinator Tristan Cole said the on-country trips will provide youth with a range of skills.
“They will learn cultural skills which are out of my domain, but what’s within my domain is they will learn logistical skills about how to run that trip properly,” he said.
“How to set up camp, how to pull it down, how to cook for yourselves, how to work out whether you’ve got enough food, enough water, enough diesel to keep going, because a lot of these trips just keep moving.”
The on-country trips could see youth continuously move across traditional country from day to day over a period of weeks.
Target 120 has been implemented at various sites across WA, with nearly half of all participants having no further contact with police, according to the state government.
The $31.5 million program was announced as part of Labor’s election campaign in 2017 and was first rolled out in Perth and regional areas including Kununurra.
Last year, the government committed $11 million to expand the project to nine additional areas, including Newman.
The program is yet to be rolled out in Carnarvon, Derby, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing.