More than half of youths sentenced to detention or probation in Queensland return to courtrooms within a year. 

A new report by the Productivity Commission has laid bare the state’s worrisome youth recidivism rates ahead of parliament passing a raft of new laws targeting offenders next month.

Youth Advocacy Centre boss Katherine Hayes told Sofie Formica more funding needs to be funnelled into support services.

“What we’ve seen, and this is from the productivity report, is that while funding for detention has doubled in the last four or five years, funding for support services has not kept pace,” she said.

“There is insufficient funding for the number of children who are experiencing these issues. We need more funding and what we need is consistent, intensive support for these young people.”

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