80 industry executives gave up their freedom and spent a night behind bars earlier this month as part of UnLtd’s Adland Bail Out at Yasmar Detention Centre. ACMF was there to take part and see how it all unfolded.
Aimed at raising awareness and funds to break the vicious cycle of youth incarceration, this event gave participants a glimpse into what it feels like for a child as young as 10 to go to prison.
The reality of child incarceration
In Australia, 10 years old is the minimum age of criminal responsibility in NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, and WA despite the UN’s recommendation that it be raised to 14.
Once a child enters detention, they are often trapped in a cycle of reoffending and incarceration, with 85% of young people aged 10-17 returning to detention within 12 months of their release. Rather than allowing them to become stuck in this hopeless cycle, experts agree that there are better ways to rehabilitate kids back into the community and prevent them from offending or reoffending.
It is not just young people paying the price for an ineffective system. It costs Australian taxpayers on average over $1 million annually per child to keep each young person in detention.
Australia can do better than this.
What we are doing about it
ACMF runs music programs within youth justice centres across Australia, tackling inequity, helping kids find their potential, and changing the life trajectories of young people through tuition and songwriting.
As part of the Bail Out event, our ACMF teacher, Elle, led a workshop, sharing her first-hand experience working with young people in detention. She told the story of an inmate who had been locked up from a very young age, and how music helped him. Many event participants found hearing first-hand experiences from young inmates to be the most confronting and moving part of the experience.
The final fundraising result from the night was incredible with over $151k raised to support UnLtd’s work. The money will go towards effective programs to break the cycle of youth incarceration operated by UnLtd’s charity partners. These programs are designed to help keep kids out of jail through holistic support, help young people navigate the court system through court and legal support, and help young people currently incarcerated to develop skills and alternative pathways to successfully transition back into community. ACMF was proud to be a part of this important event.
