The things we miss about young offenders

Podcast
20 March 2018

1 Comment

Youth detention seems to only attract public attention when there's a crisis, but the problems go back further. What are we still not confronting when it comes to children and young people who run into the law? How do we advocate for them in a hostile political and media environment?

In this episode, we talk to former Victorian children's commissioner Bernie Geary. Bernie's entire career has been focused on assisting vulnerable young people and their families. He was the first outreach youth worker in Victoria, working in West Heidelberg more than four decades ago. In 2005, he was appointed as the state's inaugural child safety commissioner, and became principal commissioner for children and young people in 2013, the role from which he retired in 2015.

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Fatima Measham is a Eureka Street consulting editor. She co-hosts the ChatterSquare podcast, tweets as @foomeister and blogs on Medium.

Topic tags: Fatima Measham, Bernie Geary, youth detention

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Existing comments

Great interview Fatima. I was moved to put a couple of little (almost accurate) quotes onto facebook to give people an idea to tune in. That cental flaw, with which I am way too familiar, of looking at what the child has done, not at what has happened. Challenged by the idea that we need to engage with people we do not agree with. Online, it's a breeze, sometimes. Face to face, I get too angry. "Lives are at stake here", I want to scream!

Bev Henwood | 22 March 2018

ChatterSquare: Greg Foyster on conservative arguments for climate action

Podcast
24 July 2017

Climate change continues to be politically charged in Australia, even as other countries ramp up their renewable energy investments. It raises questions around salesmanship. Evidence and expertise seem to only be part of the argument for action – so how can we build momentum? Do conservatives in fact have a role? Greg Foyster walks us through the language and approaches that have fallen short, and the conservative arguments that could potentially lead to breakthroughs.

Clare O'Neil on growth, fairness and power

Podcast
07 March 2018

The persistent gap between the rich and the poor has left many people disillusioned about how the economy and governments function. What does growth mean under these circumstances? Is it still useful to talk about a working class? In this interview Labor MP Clare O'Neil takes on these questions and the policy questions they bear.

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