Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) Explainer – Youth Diversion

As you know, 2025 started with significant change for vulnerable children in the Northern Territory.

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) has responsibility for promoting, informing and advocating on matters affecting the rights, interests and wellbeing of vulnerable children.

This includes sharing information, reports and data on the experiences and needs of children and young people in contact with or at risk of entry into child protection and the youth justice systems.

One way of doing this is through the publication of OCC Explainers about issues through the Territory context, reflect best practice and the evidence of what works to meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people in contact with these systems.

In light of recent reforms to the youth justice system and increased attention on youth offending, we have attached the first of our Explainer documents – Youth Diversion – for you today.

In 2025, the OCC will be hosting a series of Webinars on key OCC Explainers which bring together experts to discuss current issues, explain what works and showcase good practice.

For more information about these Webinars and how you might be involved, please contact the Strategy & Rights team.

You can find more information about the role of the Children’s Commissioner, the work of the Office and evidence based research on our website occ.nt.gov.au.

Youth Voice NT Theory of Change

 The Theory of Change was developed to guide the next years of the Youth Voice Project. It outlines four key objectives for the project and looking at these through a theory of change model it determines drivers and barriers to the changes that the project wants to make. The work came from 3 workshops conducted in 2022 by Dr Chay Brown. These workshops included young people, youth workers, those working in the youth sector and government.

Family Matters Report 2023

The annual Family Matters Report examines government actions to address the over-representation and the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection systems. It highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led solutions and calls on governments to support and invest in the strengths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to lead on child wellbeing, development and safety responses for our children. 

Palmerston State of the Children Report: A report on the Wellbeing of Children and Young People in Palmerston.

Connection is the Key: Young People’s Wellbeing in Palmerston.

“They can’t go back home” Young People and Homelessness in Mparntwe (Alice Springs)

NT Shelter and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner NT have united on a collaborative project with the joint goal of supporting the young people of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) to develop a call to action on their housing and shelter needs. 

Putting children first: A rights respecting approach to youth justice in Australia

A glance at the Northern Territory Youth Sector

Youth Voice NT project report

Young Territorians Report

Youth Voice NT Project Report

The DARWWYN Data Party report