Yuwaya Ngarra-li was recently invited to give evidence to NSW and Commonwealth inquiries into evidence-based approaches to reducing the number of children in contact with the criminal justice system on the strength of our submissions.
Yuwaya Ngarra-li was recently invited to give evidence to NSW and Commonwealth inquiries into evidence-based approaches to reducing the number of children in contact with the criminal justice system on the strength of our submissions:
The NSW Parliament’s Select Committee on Youth Justice was formed in November 2025 to investigate evidence-based approaches to reducing young people's contact with the criminal justice system. The Yuwaya Ngarra-li Partnership and the Social Determinants of Justice Research Hub each wrote a submission.
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On April 16th, DEG’s Loretta Weatherall and 91É«ÇéƬ’s Andrea Hadaway spoke compellingly about the work to build an evidence-based alternative approach to the youth justice system.
Loretta touched on the impact Galuma-li has made in the community and how valued the space is as a safe environment for young people:
They'll walk into Galuma-li… One of the little girls said, "Oh, this is my favourite place in Walgett that I like to go to… Within that 12 months, we made a very big impact on our kids in Walgett. They felt safe... I guess they trust us. They call us Auntie and Uncle, which is special... It just shows that our young people have respect and I'm teaching them to be role models because they're our next generation.
Peta MacGillivray also gave evidence on behalf of the Social Determinants of Justice Hub earlier in the day. We are looking forward to following the progress of the inquiry and the Committee’s final report at the end of this year.
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On the 10th of April, Peta MacGillivray presented evidence to the Commonwealth Inquiry, representing Yuwaya Ngarra-li. She discussed the difficulty Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations face in accessing funding for this crucial work, and the need for short and long-term government investment models for community-led responses, backed by evidence, to prevent the criminalisation of children. We are looking forward to the final report at the end of August.