We are working towards a community‑led overnight youth safety facility in Carnarvon. This work builds on local research with young people and families, and on the positive results of the Hedland House / Pilbara Safe Spaces model in South Hedland. The next step is to bring the right people together, design a Carnarvon‑specific model and secure funding to make it real.
Why this project is needed
In Carnarvon, children and young people tell us there are nights when home does not feel safe or calm. Some are living with alcohol and drug use, family violence or overcrowding. Others are carrying a lot of stress and don’t have somewhere steady to land. On those nights, many choose to stay out until very late, walk the streets or gather in public spaces because that feels safer than being inside a volatile house.
We also know that Carnarvon sits among the most disadvantaged communities in Western Australia on things like youth disengagement, justice contact and access to services. When problems flare up after hours, there is very little for young people and families to call on. Too often, police or hospital staff end up dealing with situations that are really about safety, housing, relationships and support – not crime.
An overnight youth safety facility would give children and young people another choice: a place they can go by consent to be safe, warm, fed and supervised, with people on hand to listen and follow up the next day. It is not a detention or punishment space. It is a protective, trauma‑aware option that sits alongside families, services and community, rather than replacing them.
In South Hedland, Hedland House has shown how powerful this kind of space can be. Young people there now have somewhere safe to go at night, with staff who can link them back to family, services and longer‑term support. Local partners report that youth crime and antisocial behaviour drop noticeably on the nights the service runs, because children are off the streets and cared for. We believe Carnarvon deserves the same kind of practical, caring response, shaped around our local culture, language groups and service system.
What has been done so far
Over 2024–2026, a local youth engagement and hub project brought together the voices of young people, families, Elders, service providers and government agencies here in Carnarvon. That work looked at why young people are on the streets at night, what gets in the way of school and work, and what a safe, youth‑friendly space would need to offer to be trusted and used.
A separate piece of work – The Case for an Overnight Youth Safety Facility in Carnarvon – pulled together the evidence for a night‑time service here. It describes what children and young people are experiencing, why nights are such a high‑risk time, and how an overnight facility can act as a protective, voluntary “circuit breaker”, including for those coming back from detention.
To make sure we weren’t starting from scratch, local partners also visited Hedland House and documented how it operates: who runs it, how children come and go, how safety checks are done, what partnerships are in place with police and child protection, and how data is used to follow up each child. Those learnings have been translated into what they could look like in Carnarvon’s context.
Underneath all of this is a justice reinvestment approach – the simple idea that we can spend less on late, punitive responses if we invest earlier in safety, connection and support. The overnight facility is one of the concrete ways to do that.
Where the project is up to now
We are now moving from “research and ideas” into “design and delivery”.
The next step is to employ a dedicated Project Officer to lead a co‑design process for a Carnarvon Youth Overnight Safety Facility. Their job will be to:
- work with young people, families, Elders and services to shape how the facility should run here
- bring together key partners – including Aboriginal organisations, police, child protection, health, schools and youth services – around one table
- explore governance options that keep Aboriginal cultural authority and community leadership at the centre
- map out the nuts and bolts of the service: hours, how kids come in and leave, consent and safeguarding, staffing, partnerships and data systems
- develop a realistic budget and funding proposals so government and other funders can see exactly what it will cost and what difference it is expected to make.
In short, this phase is about designing our Carnarvon version – informed by Hedland House, but grounded in local voices, local culture and local realities.
What this project is hoping to deliver
Through this next stage of work, we are aiming to achieve:
- A service model designed with – not just for – young people and families
A clear description of how the Carnarvon Overnight Youth Safety Facility will work, shaped by workshops and conversations with young people, parents, Elders, Aboriginal organisations and frontline workers. - Strong governance and community leadership
An agreed governance structure that puts Aboriginal organisations and cultural leaders at the centre, alongside other key partners, so the facility has genuine community backing and cultural authority from day one. - A practical operating blueprint
Clear agreements on referral and consent (including a voluntary, child‑focused approach with parent involvement wherever possible), staffing levels and skills, safeguarding processes, and how the service will work with police, child protection, schools, health, housing and youth programs. - A costed plan and funding case
A staged budget covering set‑up and ongoing operations, and a compelling funding pitch that shows how investing in this facility can reduce night‑time harm, youth roaming and justice contact, and deliver better value than relying on police and crisis responses alone. - A committed partnership group
A group of agencies and community representatives who have signed up to the model, are clear on their roles, and are ready to support funding bids, governance arrangements and practical implementation. - A simple but robust evaluation and data plan
A way of tracking how many children and young people use the service, what support they receive, and what happens over time to roaming, police call‑outs, family stability and youth justice involvement – so we can keep learning and improving, and show funders the impact.
Over time, once the facility is up and running, the vision is that:
- children and young people who cannot safely be at home at night have somewhere safe, calm and caring to go
- youth roaming and the need for police to respond to welfare issues on the street are reduced
- young people returning from detention have a soft landing and support close to family and Country
- families feel less alone and better supported when things are hard
- Carnarvon is a safer, more hopeful place for our children and young people.
