The Youth Crime Prevention Grants fund community-led initiatives that address offending behaviour and recidivism by young people aged 10 to 24 who have had contact with, or are at risk of involvement with, the criminal justice system.

About the grants

The number of young people in Victoria committing crimes has been decreasing over the last five years. However, a small number of young offenders are responsible for an increasingly high number of recorded offences.

The Youth Crime Prevention Grants program is part of the Victorian Government’s response to addressing offending behaviour by young people aged between 10-24 years who have had contact with, or have demonstrated risk of being involved with the criminal justice system.

The program invests in priority areas that have higher levels of crime, higher proportions of recidivist youth offenders and socio-economic disadvantage. It aims to reduce offending behaviour and recidivism among project participants by:

  • decreasing known crime-related risk factors and increasing protective factors
  • linking them to sustained employment, training and education opportunities
  • increasing their connectedness with the community.

Projects are also expected to develop or consolidate strong, effective partnerships among community organisations and government agencies involved in the initiatives.

Funded projects

Since 2016 the Victorian Government has invested over $26 million for the Youth Crime Prevention Grants, which includes $4.511 million in the 2022-23 State Budget, to extend 15 projects for 12 months to 30 June 2023.

  • Directed – direct investment of $16.8 million to eight priority communities: Ballarat, Casey, Frankston, Geelong, Greater Dandenong, Hume, Latrobe and Wyndham.
  • Competitive – funding of $5.12 million* to support an additional seven priority communities: Bendigo, Brimbank, East Gippsland, Horsham, Melton, Mildura, and Shepparton (*includes $600,000 to fund projects in Cardinia, Darebin and Wodonga between 2016 and 2018).
  • Koori – dedicated funding of $1.5 million allocated to 25 Koori youth crime prevention activities. This funding acknowledges that Koori young people have disproportionately high rates of disadvantage and are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system. These grants were overseen by the Department’s Koori Justice Unit and coordinated by nine Regional Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committees.

    Program evaluation

    Mid-term program evaluation

    The YCPG program is being independently evaluated by the Crime Statistics Agency to contribute to the evidence base around youth crime prevention.

    A mid-term evaluation report has been delivered and focuses on progress towards program outcomes. Read the mid-term evaluation report. 

    Final program evaluation

    A final evaluation report was completed in March 2022. This focused on the most recent two years of the projects (2020-2022) and outcomes at the end of the program as well as longer term outcomes. This evaluation builds on a previous mid-term evaluation report that considered the findings from the first two years of the program. Read the final evaluation report.

    Koori Youth Crime Prevention Grants final evaluation report

    An evaluation report has been delivered by the Department of Justice and Community Safety’s Koori Justice Unit into three crime prevention grant programs under the 2018-2023 Aboriginal Justice Agreement, including the Koori Youth Crime Prevention Grants Program, to contribute to the evidence base around youth crime prevention.

    Read the final evaluation report.

    Useful resources

    Additional resources about the program and youth crime prevention can be found below:

      Assistance

      If you have any questions about these grants, email communitycrimeprevention@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

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