Men's advocacy groups meet

Members of three Central Coast male advocacy groups, the Mens Interagency, the Aboriginal Mens Group and the Shed Cluster met at the Mingaletta Community Centre on Wednesday, November 10, to discuss ways to achieve better outcomes for young men at risk of becoming offenders.

"The Coast has a real problem in juvenile crime," said Men's Interagency co-ordinator Mr Darren Maxwell.

"National crime statistics show that 30 per cent of all crimes are committed by people aged between 10 and 19.

"These figures are nation wide so we can expect the Coast to have a higher percentage of young offenders because of the high youth unemployment and other regional factors.

"The gap between male and female offenders is remarkable.

"Males are almost four times more likely to offend than females.

Mr Maxwell said: "The group was unanimous in declaring that we all share a genuine need for our community to support a Coast-wide mentoring program for young boys.

"Outdoor style nature based mentoring programs are run all around the world with a very high degree of success.

"We have the skills facilities and manpower to facilitate programs that will help turn our troubled boys into outstanding young men, but we need official support to make this dream a reality," he said.

The group will meet again on Wednesday, November 24.

Media Release, 17 Nov 2010 Darren Maxwell, Central Coast Mens Interagency