Early Action Groups

Early Action Groups coordinate multi-agency case management for children aged 8–16 years who are at moderate/high risk of future offending and their families. They provide early intervention responses that address the complex cultural, social, and economic factors contributing to young people's offending behaviour, including:

• family functioning
• health needs
• educational disengagement
• substance use
• negative peers
• pro-criminal attitudes.

As part of the Townsville Stronger Communities initiative, an Early Action Group has operated in Townsville since 2016.

In February 2023, the Queensland Government announced a plan to tackle the complex causes of youth crime and strengthen community safety. An important part of this plan is investing in programs proven to make a difference. This includes expanding the Early Action Groups to Mount Isa and Cairns.

Purpose of Early Action Groups

Early Action Groups help to:

• address the underlying factors that lead to young people offending
• improve the functioning of high-risk young people and their families
• build a stronger and safer community.

The Early Action Groups:

• identify and case manage 20 at-risk young people and their families to divert these young people away from the justice system
• develop place-based solutions to improve better outcomes for young people who are at high risk of entering the Youth Justice system.

Target group

For a young person to be referred to Early Action Groups for support, they need to:

• be aged 8–16 years
• not be case managed by Youth Justice or Child Safety
• be coming to the attention of police or Youth Justice and have offending risk factors
• be assessed as at a moderate or high risk of offending.

Multi-agency approach

The Early Action Group involve the following government agencies:

• Queensland Police Service
• Department of Youth Justice
• Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services
• Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts
• Queensland Health – Hospital and Health Services
• Department of Education
• Department of Housing
• Department of Corrective Services (non-operational member).

Together, these agencies work with community stakeholders to establish place-based solutions, or add value to existing solutions, to ensure young people and their families connect to services that can address underlying factors contributing to a young person's offending behaviour. This may include initiatives that improve access to:

• the National Disability Insurance Scheme
• specialist mental health services
• education
• housing services.

Townsville Early Action Group

The Townsville Early Action Group is co-located with the Queensland Police Service.

Contact us

Email: NQR_EAG_Townsville@cyjma.qld.gov.au
Telephone: (07) 4789 9550