Pilbara Safe Spaces Program

Project Background and the Inception of Pilbara Safe Spaces Programs

In May 2022, the Pilbara Development Commission (the Commission) established the Pilbara Juvenile Crime Working Group (the PJCWG) to bring together representatives from government, community and industry to consider a collaborative approach to addressing offending and antisocial behaviour in the Pilbara. The PJCWG comprises senior representatives from:

Consultants were engaged to undertake a review of programs in other jurisdictions that could be applied in the Pilbara to support youth at risk. The consultants also mapped existing services in the Pilbara for children and young people to identify opportunities where service delivery outcomes could be enhanced through improved collaboration.

Based on the review’s recommendations, the PJCWG agreed to pursue the potential for a Safe Spaces program like the Communities’ funded Inner City/ Northbridge Youth at Risk Service (currently being delivered by Mission Australia and branded as YouthBeat).

The inception of the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project also responds to the strong and consistent advocacy from both Hedland Aboriginal Strong Leaders (HASL) and Julyardi for this type of locally based service from as early as 2017.

One element of the YouthBeat service model is to provide a temporary safe space for street-present young people in Northbridge on Friday and Saturday nights, while ensuring they are connected with family or a responsible adult.

A similar program will be set up in Newman and Hedland to address the lack of after-hours frontline services for unsupervised children and young people on the streets at night.

A key feature of the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project will be access to referral services and follow up support services. The service mapping exercise identified that Newman needed additional dedicated services to support young children and families. 

As a result, the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project will include an Indigenous Healing Service in Newman to provide child-focused trauma recovery services and child specific family and domestic violence counselling services, informed by traditional and local Aboriginal healing practices.  Note that a similar service already exists in Hedland and will be available to support the Hedland program.

The Pilbara Safe Spaces Project will be funded for five years as a culturally responsive and secure, Aboriginal-led and driven services, with support from State Government agencies to build capacity and capability of the service providers on the ground.

The Safe Spaces

Each Safe Spaces program will include a safe space where unsupervised young people, under 18 years, can voluntarily attend or transported to by service providers, WA Police or other appropriate community outreach services. The Safe Space will function as a temporary location where young people can feel supported, while Safe Space staff work to locate a responsible adult to provide supervision, either a parent, guardian or extended family member.

Funding, partners and roles

Up to $22 million is being allocated jointly by BHP and Fortescue for the Safe Spaces Project through the Resources Community Investment Initiative (RCII), a partnership between WA Government and the resources sector.  The RCII is a major partnership between the WA Government and resources sector to make financial contribution towards community and social initiatives and infrastructure projects to make WA an even better place to live.

A further $7.3 million has been allocated by the State Government through the Royalties for Regions Regional Reform Fund for the Indigenous Healing Service in Newman and for project resources.

This will include the establishment of the Indigenous Healing Service in Newman that will deliver child-focused trauma recovery services, informed by traditional and local Aboriginal healing practices. 

The Commission is the government lead in the project – it manages the Pilbara Juvenile Crime Working Group, the Pilbara Safe Spaces Program Control Group and the Hedland and Newman Subgroups. It is working closely with Communities to ensure the programs are delivered with the intent to provide safe and culturally appropriate intervention services for children, young people and their families.

Communities’ role in the Pilbara Safe Space programs is to procure services and manage contract project delivery, coordination and implementation.

Safe Spaces will be delivered by locally based ACCOs in line with WA’s Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy, Aboriginal Procurement Policy, Communities’ Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Strategy 2022–2032 and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

On 3 February 2025, Communities awarded a service contract to Julyardi Aboriginal Corporation to deliver the Safe Spaces program in Hedland while Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ) was awarded a contract to deliver the program in Newman.

Support services

While at the Safe Space, the young person will be assessed by staff and any referrals or support services for ongoing case management will be completed based on their individual needs.

An Indigenous Healing Service will also be established in Newman to support and complement the implementation of the Safe Spaces program. An Indigenous Healing Service is already available in Hedland.

The Indigenous Healing Service will deliver child-focused trauma recovery services, informed by traditional and local Aboriginal healing practices.

It is anticipated the Safe Spaces program will be operational from mid-2025.

FAQs developed by the Commission in consultation with all partners for the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project.

The Pilbara Safe Spaces Project (the Project) was identified under the Pilbara Juvenile Crime Working Group and codesigned by government, industry, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and placed based community Subgroups.  The Project comprises a Hedland and Newman program that will be funded jointly by BHP and Fortescue who are contributing up to $22 million from the Resources Community Investment Initiative (RCII) towards their delivery over a five-year period from 2025

The Project will offer a temporary safe space and/or transport home for children and young people at risk and on the streets at night in Hedland and Newman.

An outcome of the Project is to provide protection from harm and increased wellbeing for children and young people while reducing the potential for them to get caught up in antisocial and offending behaviours. Early intervention aims to reduce risk factors that increase the likelihood that a young person will engage in offending behaviour and is based on the premise that intervening early in a young person's development can produce significant long term personal, social and economic benefits.

The Project will also facilitate culturally responsive follow-up and outreach services – including life skills, education and employment – that address underlying and intersecting issues for vulnerable, at risk, unsupervised young people.

The Project will be delivered and managed by local, place based ACCOs working with government agencies, to provide a temporary place where at risk children and young people can go at night off the streets and away from antisocial behaviour and unsafe environments to receive support services while being connected with a responsible adult to provide supervision of them.

Subgroups were set up in Newman and Port Hedland comprising locally based representation from ACCOs, government agencies, local government, industry and other key stakeholders. (HASL and Julyardi have worked with the community and partners to understand the community need for 6-7 years, the concept has been included by HASL in numerous community plans throughout this time)

The Newman and Hedland programs will include a safe space where unsupervised young people under 18 years can voluntarily attend or be taken to by the service providers, WA Police or other appropriate community outreach services.

The safe space will function as a temporary location while staff work to locate a responsible adult to provide supervision for them, either being a parent, guardian or extended family member. While at the safe space, the young person will be assessed by staff and any referrals or support services, or ongoing case management will be completed based on their individual needs.

Each program will be voluntary. Children and young people will choose when they access these services.

Young people will have access to food, basic hygiene supplies and facilities, low levels of entertainment and areas for rest. The staff will work to locate a responsible adult to provide supervision for them and will undertake an assessment for any referrals or support services based on their individual needs.

The programs will provide culturally responsive support and early intervention services and be run by Julyardi in Port Hedland and KJ and the Newman Women’s Shelter in Newman.

The purpose of the programs is to provide supervision of young people whilst a responsible adult is located. Periods of stay may vary, noting engagement is voluntary.

The ACCOs delivering the services have extensive experience working with children and young people and deliver trauma informed services.  Staff training is identified in the contracts with both ACCOs.

The Commission is the government lead in the Project – it manages the Pilbara Juvenile Crime Working Group, the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project - Program Control Group and the Hedland and Newman Subgroups.  It is working closely with Communities to ensure the programs are delivered with the intent to provide safe and culturally appropriate intervention services for children, young people and their families.

Communities’ role in the Project is to procure services and manage contract service delivery, coordination and implementation.

Both ACCOs have extensive experience in delivering programs for young children and youth.  Both ACCOs have been engaged by the Department of Communities to deliver the Target 120 program in their respective towns.  There are synergies between the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project and Target 120 programs.

There are already several similar type programs being delivered across regional WA i.e. Broome’s Ngurra Buru – Immediate Response Night Space and the Youth Connection Night Space in Fitzroy Crossing.

This would be discussed by the key stakeholders involved in the Pilbara Safe Spaces Project.

The WA Government’s RCII allows resource companies to make financial contributions, on a voluntary basis, towards iconic infrastructure projects and community and social initiatives.

All RCII projects must have a clear community benefit.  The Project was approved by WA Government for inclusion in the RCII because it will support vulnerable young people in the Hedland and Newman communities.

The success of the Project will be measured in several ways including the collection of the children and young people’s feedback of feeling safe and supported, improvements in the wellbeing of young people; improvements in school attendance; a reduction in the number of unsupervised children and young people on the streets after hours; a reduction in the number of unsupervised children and young people getting caught up in antisocial behaviour and offending because of preventative services; the number of children, young people and families accessing new services .

Pilbara Safe Spaces is a “living” project with a real time ongoing evaluation over the first three years to identify and make any changes required to improve program delivery and outcomes.    

There is more information available on the PDC website, or please contact the Commission directly at communications@pdc.wa.gov.au 

We value feedback, we would appreciate your comments in an email to the Commission as this helps us with our evaluation process.

The Project is for children and young people under 18 years. There is no set minimum age. Both Hedland and Neman programs will provide a safe space for all children and young people. The ACCOs will work with the community and partners in providing adequate safeguarding practices for young children and acutely vulnerable children to ensure their wellbeing and safety.

The ACCOs will work with the community and their partners to ensure that the child remains safe, and steps are taken to find a safe alternative to family.

ACCOs will respond appropriately and effectively to concerns about a child’s wellbeing. This may include making a report to the Department of Communities or WA Police.

 An Indigenous Healing Service will be established in Newman to support and complement the implementation of the Safe Spaces program. The service will deliver child focused trauma recovery services, informed by traditional and local Aboriginal healing practices.

An Indigenous Healing Service is already operating successfully in Hedland.