Bourke crime decline makes headlines

Screenshot of the online story “Breakthrough at Bourke”

The success of the Justice Reinvestment program in Bourke has made national headlines.

Last week journalist Robert Milliken featured an in-depth analysis of the project on Inside Story, a site for stories, commentary and reviews by leading writers and researchers.

This latest article follows an earlier report which highlighted the evidence of the big savings made by the Justice Reinvest Project.

Leading accounting firm KPMG measured the dollars saved by developing strategies other than prison for young indigenous offenders.

It showed Bourke had saved over $3 million, mainly in costs to its criminal justice system, by rolling out Australia’s most advanced example of justice reinvestment.

KPMG stated that even more striking were improvements in the rates of domestic violence, juvenile crime and early childhood development.

Read more in the printed edition of the Western Herald.