They didn't work in Western Australia in Richard Court's time. They're a politician's law-and-order gimmick, damaging in that they are intended to avoid focussing on the mundane work of actually getting people to find something better to do than criminal behaviour.

Why not have the offenders conscripted into the actual Australian army. Three months of discipline, responsibility, consequences and most importantly a sense of place. These young people would complete basic training with all the benefits of the boot camp and importantly a potential career.

Furthermore basic training is more beneficial than boot camp. Placing the potentially troubled people together as a group would not be as valuable as integrating them with motivated effective members of society. Also by immersing them in the army culture they will be exposed to good role models; not only those in authority but those they are training with.

The camaraderie of basic training cannot be overlooked. Having up to 50 people who ‘have got your back’ may be a new experience for the offenders and drive home the importance that they need to be there for the other 50 people too. In the army the group comes before the individual and the individual comes before the group. To be overly romantic about it’s a case of ‘one for all and all for one’. It is this culture of not letting your mates down that instils responsibility.

Finally the focus of basic training is different. Rather than being sent to a boot camp as a punishment focusing on rehabilitation basic training is about preparing for a career in the army. It is a positive step contributing to society even if they choose a different path.

We are an Adventure Therapy program based out of Adelaide. I've worked at similar programs all over the world. It's sad to see this approach still used. Research has shown that real change comes from not only personal motivation but from a strong therapeutic alliance to the worker. The role of a good leader would be to gain as much understand through being trustworthy and empathetic. It should never be about breaking someone down to rebuild them. Each person knows their own strengths and we should be trying to help facilitate them to aim their strengths in the right direction.

Adventure Therapy has often gotten mixed up with these boot camp / brat camp style programs. Its too bad because there are many amazing programs following progressive models and making real changes in young people! Hope we keep up!

If the government is so committed to fiscal repair of getting Queensland back to surplus, why are they gambling $2 million of taxpayers’ money when there is no empirical research to back up long-term benefits of boot camps for juvenile offenders? Especially when the Newman government have eliminated the youth justice conferencing that had a 95% success rate with 98% satisfaction. The facts from the ABS and the Childrens Court of Queensland Annual Report are that juvenile offences have been steady over the decade and decreased last year by 8.6% for young people coming before the court, 4.5% for detention orders issued, and 12.9% in number of charges laid against young people. With only a ‘small number’ of re-offenders, admitted by the Attorney-General, could the funding not be put to better use for early intervention programs? The truth is boot camps, that research has shown to be ineffective, are not what our Juvenile Justice System needs. We should strengthen the fiscal partnership with local probation departments to support long-term, cost-effective community based programs.

It is important to differentiate the concept, practices and research outcomes from Wilderness and Adventure Therapy (W&AT) which are often confused with Boot Camps. Critical differences are a) any form of group programs with young offenders are frequently problematic and can frequently lead to worsening offending, b) W&AT programs typically involve heterogeneous populations with mixed mental health and behavioural issues of all kinds, c) W&AT programs that adhere to established conventional therapy best practices are based on generic principles of therapy including being led by qualified mental health professionals instead of military or Police personnel, d) have a growing evidence base of significant effectiveness with a broad range of presenting problems, including depression and anxiety. Innovation is desperately needed for many groups of young people, so let's promote and importantly DIFFERENTIATE genuinely promising ones from quackery like Boot Camps.

'offence-focused programs, counselling, substance abuse programs, community reparation, family support and support to re-engage with learning or employment.' wouldn't this count as a form of therapeutic? What else would the gov. need to add to the camps to make the program therapeutic and what length of time should each individual remain in the camps to make a lasting difference?
The article critiques without offering anything substantial to either improve or discredit the program.

So incredibly weird?

Why won't handcuffing and sending those youths to a place where they don't want to be, help? I mean, discipline should work wonders for their moral fiber? Let us see, have Australia ever had a similar experience before? Getting handcuffed and sent away, far far away?

If a youth join the services, army etc, he does it of his own free will, well, hopefully. And the discipline he meet is a chosen one, even if he didn't know the full measure.

Would there be a difference between those?

In reality, the Newman government hasn’t come up with a new and innovative response to youth crime. This boot camp model has been adopted by other countries and Australian jurisdictions without any successful outcomes. Evidence suggests that boot camps do little to reduce reoffending and create an atmosphere of aggression and intimidation. This ‘great idea’ has been thrown in the face of the government with the incident of the boot camps in Kuranda, Cairns. Two young people threatened a carer with a knife and attempted to steal a car. It concerns me that the government would rather win votes through hardline attitudes to youth justice than reducing crime by supporting vulnerable youth. These boot camps were part of the government’s six month Action Plan (Jan –June 2013). However, this seems like more of a reaction to quickly fulfil election promises and be seen to be responding to community fear. I feel this is the reason why Youth Justice Conferencing, an evidence-based and economically sensible program that had a 98 per cent satisfaction rate was axed. The cutting of this program was just another strategic political move by the Newman government to be seen as tough on crime and appease ‘community concern’.