Australasian Youth Justice Administrators present the

5th Australasian Youth Justice Conference Strengthening Connections: The Power of Relationships and Strong Service Partnerships

Melbourne Cricket Ground 
16th – 18th April, 2024

Australasian Youth Justice Conference - Call for Participation

Thank you for your interest in participating in Australasian Youth Justice Conference 2024. 


Call for abstracts now closed

Aims

The Australasian Youth Justice Administrator (AYJA) funds and hosts a biennial Australasian Youth Justice Conference for academics, practitioners, and government and non-government agencies to drive and showcase youth justice initiatives and innovations nationally and internationally.   These conferences contribute to evidence-based responses for youth justice and provide new ideas for youth justice at a jurisdictional, national and international level.

Following successful Conferences hosted by Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney,  and New Zealand the Australasian Youth Justice Conference for 2024 will be hosted by Victoria.

The Australasian Youth Justice Conference 2024, aims to:

  • promote best practice and innovative approaches in youth justice for all practitioners involved in the youth justice system across government and the community
  • highlight current and emerging research priorities and trends
  • draw on experience from other regions
  • share work in progress and project outcomes.


Theme

The theme of the Conference is Strengthening Relationships: The Power of Relationships and String Service Partnerships

The two major streams for AYJC 2024 will be:

  • Culture a powerful connection to identity, empowerment and self-determination
  • Building safe, stable and connected workforces

The conference theme and major streams will guide the following additional six streams.

Stream 1 - Understanding and supporting young people’s positive development and social identity (youth empowerment, youth voice, mentoring, family/whanau, relationships)

Stream 2 - Working together to create alternative pathways for 10–13-year-olds (raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility, doli incapax, alternate service models, diversion, early intervention)

Stream 3 - Partnerships to navigate complex needs (trauma-informed, throughcare, NDIS, mental health, health and wellbeing, relationships and rapport, cultural responsivity, homelessness, child protection, courts, police, education)

Stream 4 - Sharing Challenges, and Achievements in Contemporary Youth Justice Practice (restorative practice, managing custody in the community, children and young people that cross over dual systems, intensive intervention units, small place-based facilities)

Stream 5 – Other.


Presentation types

There are many ways to contribute to the Australasian Youth Justice Conference 2024, with all contributions needing to align with the Australasian Youth Justice Conference 2024 themes and aims.  Further details of each type are outlined below.

Oral Presentation

Presentations should aim to engage the audience, to create interest, seek feedback and encourage further enquiry.  Presentations are approximately 20 minutes long including discussion/question time.  Presentations must reference work currently underway or completed within the last 18 months.  A full paper is not required for submission.

NOTE: There are no online/video presentation options available for oral presentations.  All presentations will be delivered in person.

Authors submitting as part of a symposium are asked to submit their papers in the Abstract Portal individually. When submitting a paper which forms part of a symposium, please select ‘symposium’ from the presentation type drop-down and include the symposium title in the abstract wording. 

Panel Discussion

Panel discussions aim to stimulate discussion about a youth justice issue/matter/innovation by a panel of experts, academics, practitioners and/or community representatives involved in the field.  Panel sessions can be 45 minutes in total, including question time.  The Panel facilitation is the responsibility of the Panel.

Workshop

Attendees at previous Conferences have told us they would like more chances to work collaboratively with other attendees.  We are also looking for proposals to run facilitated workshops that explore, in a participatory manner, any of the eight sub-themes.  Sessions can be 60 minutes in total, including discussion and question time.  Please include:

  • a clear statement on how your proposed workshop will contribute to strengthening the voices and activities of young people, their families and communities in the youth justice context
  •  proposed methodology and maximum number of participants
  • beyond the 250 word limit, two sentences describing who will be involved in leading and facilitating the workshop.

You can find examples of presentations given at the 2019 Conference on the AYJA website www.ayja.org.au/ayjc-2019/


Evaluation Criteria

All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of AYJA members and academics.

All submissions will be reviewed, based on the following criteria:

  • relevance to the conference theme/sub-themes
  • relevance to contemporary professional practice
  • presents key issues to a broader audience
  • quality of the abstract
  • compliance with the word count and format requirements for abstracts (as per template).

All submitters will receive an email confirming the outcome of their proposal.  All criteria are key considerations in the acceptance of all submissions.  We reserve the right to discuss your submission with you as part of the process of assembling the program.


Important dates

  • Registrations now open
  • Call for abstracts close on 22nd January 2024
  • Presenters notified on 21st February 2024 
  • Presenter registrations due by 29th February 2024
  • Presenter PowerPoint presentations due by 9th April 2024. Submission details will be sent to presenters soon. 
  • Early bird registrations close on 15th March 2024
  • Full registration CLOSED


Contact Us

The 5th Australasian Youth Justice Conference is proudly delivered by the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology.

Conference Organiser

Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science
Swinburne University of Technology
www.swinburne.edu.au/cfbs

Get in Touch

+61 3 9214 6222