Attorney-General’s Department Review of Youth Treatment Orders submission – March 2025

The harms caused by deprivation of liberty and mandatory treatment for young people are well known. Framing a healthcare matter as a criminal matter is a barrier to treatment and risks further harm to individual young people and the community. Instead, a harm reduction approach that limits health, social and economic impacts on young people experiencing drug dependency, their family and the community is favouredi. Currently, South Australia lacks adequate treatment for young people; this was noted during consultation on the development of the youth treatment orders (YTO) model and has not changed. Given the significant gap in voluntary youth-specific treatment, YTO are not the last resort as intended, but are the only resort.