Mobilise: Children's Rights Education through Creative Arts & New Technologies in Youth Justice Settings in NSW, Qld & Victoria

Mobilise emerged from 54 reasons NSW team's experience of working on a social cohesion project funded by Multicultural NSW COMPACT (2018 – 2020), which sought to encourage children and young people (C&YP), from culturally and linguistically diverse greater Western Sydney communities, to aspire for a society where Child Rights are understood, protected, and actively enjoyed by all. This iteration of Mobilise builds on the findings of the COMPACT program, augmented by consultation with, and input from, C&YP who were previously in contact with the Youth Justice system, to develop and deliver a Child Rights Education (CRE) program for C&YP in Youth Justice settings. The original plan was to deliver a series of eight CRE workshops from early April to September 2021 at six Youth Justice sites, including community and correctional settings, in NSW, Qld and Victoria. However, the global pandemic imposed a set of unprecedented challenges and obstacles, which impeded the implementation of Mobilise CRE program in its originally planned format. In particular, the resultant lengthy delays and frequently heightened institutional restrictions in Youth Justice settings, have meant that Mobilise CRE facilitators have had to accommodate to these new restrictions and working conditions, not least because the free movement in and out of Youth Detention Centres (YDCs) became compromised. Mobilise was finally launched in NSW and Qld in April 2022, but did not commence in Victoria until November 2022. Furthermore, as transition to remote data collection became necessary, the researchers were unable to conduct individual interviews with C&YP, as originally planned, to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences and perceptions of their rights and the impact that the CRE program had on them. Therefore, this report analyses salient themes in data captured through interviews with 54 reasons staff including, 12 CRE facilitators, a team leader, three regional managers and one practice development manager for Child Rights and Participation. Additionally, the analysis focused on drawings and paintings produced by C&YP during the CRE workshops, accompanied by written descriptions and explanations they gave for the artwork. Data show that the transient nature of C&YP in correctional settings, in particular, led to inconsistent and unpredictable attendance at the CRE workshops, in large part due to participants who took part in Mobilise being held in YDCs for less than 30 days on average before they were released and thus could not attend the entire CRE program. Conversely, in the only two community settings where Mobilise was delivered in NSW, the CRE facilitators successfully used bike and skateboard refurbishment as catalysts for gaining and sustaining the active and enthusiastic participation of C&YP in all the CRE workshops. While highlighting the challenges encountered by the CRE facilitators in their attempts to adhere to the fidelity of Mobilise program content, design, structure and delivery, the report identifies characteristics of good practice that were conducive to positive learning outcomes for C&YP in six Youth Justice settings, three in NSW, two in Qld and one in Victoria. Notably, the use of creative methodologies in community settings provided an excellent medium for delivering a successful CRE program, as it encouraged a communal, creative, relaxed, and open atmosphere for discussion and sharing, through and by which Child Rights were purposefully approached.