New South Wales Government
Department of Juvenile Justice

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1. Home
2. Community services
3. Youth drug and alcohol court program (YDAC)

Community services

Youth drug and alcohol court program (YDAC)

The Youth Drug and Alcohol Court (YDAC) commenced in July 2000 in response to recommendations from the NSW Drug Summit held in 1999. The Court was set up to address the needs of young offenders between 14 and 18 years of age who have alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems. The aim of the Court is to divert young offenders from further drug use and reoffending by providing specialist assistance in a number of areas.

Referrals are received from Children's Court Magistrates through recommendations made by Juvenile Justice Officers or Counsellors, Legal Aid solicitors or self-referrals. The YDAC sits at three locations - Parramatta, Campbelltown and Bidura (Glebe) Children's Courts.

To determine eligibility into the YDAC program, an initial screening of the young person is conducted by a Juvenile Justice Counsellor at the young person's first appearance before YDAC. To meet the eligibility criteria, the referral must concern a matter dealt with at the Children’s Court and the young person must be:

• Aged 14 to 18 years;

• Be pleading guilty to offence;

• Be pleading guilty to offence;

• Not facing current sexual offence charges;

• Not subject to serious mental health issues;

• Presenting with a history of substance misuse; and

• Someone whose offending behaviour is related to substance misuse.

If the young person meets these criteria, a comprehensive assessment is completed by Joint Assessment and Review Team (JART) members. The JART Team comprises of a representative from the Department of Community Services, Justice Health, the Department of Education and Training, and the Area Manager and the Assistant Area Manager from the Department of Juvenile Justice.

If the young person is assessed as suitable, an individual holistic program plan is developed. Each young person’s case is co-case managed by an allocated Juvenile Justice officer/counsellor and a community-based case manager from DoCS-funded YDAC services, Youthlinks (Blacktown and Liverpool) and Oasis Youth Support Network/WAYS (Surry Hills and Bondi). At the time of acceptance onto the YDAC program and, where possible, the young person is placed in the YDAC Induction Unit which is a six-bed unit run by a non-government organisation, managed by Justice Health.

The young person remains in the Induction Unit for three to four weeks, after which they generally enter a residential rehabilitation program and/or are intensively supervised and supported in a community-based program. All YDAC participants are expected to participate in formal AOD and offence focused interventions provided and sourced by the YDAC program.

A lack of compliance with any part of the young person's program plan may result in a breach of bail and return to custody. A young person who successfully graduates from the YDAC program will almost certainly avoid a Control Order and a young person's participation in the program will not further disadvantage their legal outcomes.