CREATE Foundation

Locking up children won’t keep Queensland safe. These laws will not improve community safety and CREATE does not support them. Harsher penalties for children as young as 10 will fuel cycles of contact with the justice system that will continue into adulthood. CREATE urges the Government to address the drivers of youth offending by looking at the research, listening to the many experts and advocates (including lived experience experts) and investing in early intervention, diversion and rehabilitation. We invite the Premier and his colleagues to meet with CREATE and our Young Consultants to discuss this further.

Proud plant parents 🙋🪴🌿 Our SA team hosted a pot-planting YAG focused on self-care, where our Young Consultants got the chance to propagate their own plant and take it home. Thank you Brochas Youth Space in St Clair and Eavy for sharing your space and for guiding the session. Thank you also to Emma and Jo from Skylight Mental Health for providing information about self-care and services. On self-care, a couple of our young people said: 💬 “When you grow up in care, you’re just trying to survive. No one tells you it’s okay to put yourself first.” 💬 “When you remove the dead parts of a plant, it grows stronger. That’s how I feel about letting go of toxic people.” Will you be heading to Bunnings this weekend in the name of self-care? 💚💜 #SelfCare #SelfCareMatters #MentalHealthAwareness

This year, CREATE celebrates 25 years of driving change for children and young people in care 💜 In honour of our birthday, we would like to thank every child and young person who has connected with CREATE over the years. Read our write-up on this major milestone and key highlights over the years ✍ https://lnkd.in/g9Tg6JyG Feel free to drop your favourite memory with CREATE in the comments below. #CREATEfnd . . . . . ID: 3 images. The first shows people wearing CREATE shirts and jumpers smiling with balloons that say ‘25’ and CREATE’s purple gorilla, Gus posing on the ground with text that says: Happy birthday CREATE. The second image shows a young person with glasses smiling as she holds the 25 balloons. There is text that says: Thank you to every young person who has connected with CREATE over the years. The third image shows the young people and Gus watching a young man smash a birthday cake pinata.

Last week, CREATE leaders, managers and board gathered in Sydney for an inspiring and productive few days of collaboration and planning! We explored what CREATE is excelling at and where we’re headed to next… We’re thrilled to share that there are some really exciting things coming up for CREATE. 💜 Stay tuned and check out the group photo of our awesome team. 📸 #Teamwork #CREATEfnd 

"When children’s rights are upheld, everyone benefits. Families and children access better services that respond to their priorities and needs, government policy is better informed and focused on root causes rather than late intervention, and systems are holistic and organised around people, communities and driving – rather than impeding – transformative change." Source: Factsheet 1, The Australian Centre for Child Rights (2024) https://lnkd.in/gtYmcRJp It is up to governments, but it is also up to every single one of us as adults to protect and uphold children's rights. #HumanRightsDay #ChildRights #ChildrensRights.

National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds has today released a video, again urging the Queensland Government to scrap its plan to pass strict new child justice laws. Under the proposed bill, harsh punishments, including mandatory life sentences, would be introduced for children as young as ten - many of whom are from vulnerable backgrounds. "Too many children with disabilities, learning problems, and poverty, including many First Nations children, are locked up because the systems of health, education and social services are inadequate. "If the Queensland Government is serious about making communities safer, it will look at the evidence instead of relying on opinions. "On Human Rights Day, we call on all Australians governments to stand up for the human rights of Australia's youngest citizens." Read the Commission's landmark report on child justice reform 'Help Way Earlier!': https://loom.ly/_A_P0PU #AusHumanRights #helpwayearlier

Human Rights Day is a reminder that right now, in Australia, we are failing to uphold the rights of children and young people in many ways, including: - lowering the age of criminal responsibility in the NT - proposing to remove the principle of 'detention as a last resort' in QLD - locking children as young as 10-years-old up in cells across the country.   The erosion of children's rights is a national shame. We can and must do better by Australia's children.   CREATE Foundation backs 'The Plan' by Act for Children to make change happen for children and young people. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/grmfyKkJ #ChildrensRights #ChildRights #HumanRightsDay

Last Wednesday, CREATE ran a consultation event (co-facilitated by Mullah Mara Together) with kids aged 8-12 years in Cairns, QLD to better understand their experiences of residential care, as part of a collaboration with the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC). We did fun activities as a way to consult with young people on important issues around their care. Including a 'design your ideal home' task where young people made collages of what they want to see in residential homes to make them feel safe, supported and at home. 🏡 We also ran as a 'resi soup' activity where young people chose from a range of ‘ingredients’ that could go into a residential home to make their own soup. They were asked to share why certain ingredients were important to them and in what quantities they wanted them. Ingredients included things like: • feelings (love, safety, happy, calm) • fun things • routines and more. No matter their age, we should look to children and young people in shaping the systems, services and decisions that impact their lives. We look forward to more events like this in the New Year 💜 Thanks to all involved.

Your opinion matters! 💬 How do you think CREATE is doing? Let us know by taking our 2-minute survey. Your feedback helps us improve. 🙌 https://lnkd.in/gGPqbqi5 #CREATEfnd #YouthEmpowerment #OOHC ID: A photo of CREATE team members with three children playing jenga outside.

This approaching Human Rights Day feels especially grim as children and young people's rights are being cast aside in many ways: https://lnkd.in/gTmuaeTY (see also: links at end of post)   In response to the QLD Government's Adult Crime, Adult Time proposal, CREATE Young Consultant, Elysay said:   “With the number of kids in care in the [youth justice] system, there is more of a need to focus on supporting those kids. They all have these pre-established traumas and they’re constantly moving, have no emotional support so they start to express their emotional needs by lashing out with anger or assault. I think the focus should be on healing the child’s trauma. That is why they are acting the way they are acting.”    CREATE advocates for a cross-jurisdictional approach to youth justice that is child-centred, evidence-based and protects the rights of children. This means:   ❗Detention should be a last resort. ❗Each State and Territory must raise the MACR to 14. ❗Governments can and should do better by kids, starting with acting on evidence and what experts say (including lived experience experts). ❗Adults should listen to children and young people. ❗The protection of children's rights should be a national priority.   *https://lnkd.in/gbY7ezd9 *https://lnkd.in/g7bTsaUt *https://lnkd.in/gG2jkVGv *https://lnkd.in/d5kuf47T   #Jailingisfailing #RaiseTheAge #YouthJustice #ChildRights