Wollongong police's two-year long partnership with the University of Wollongong to try and reduce youth reoffending and breaching AVO's has had a big win.
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On Friday UOW students presented police and Youth Justice Wollongong officials with a mobile phone application for support services.
The app, called YAVOS, will provide valuable support for young people and their families.
It is expected to be implemented in the near future.
Southern Region Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Dean Smith said the impact of domestic and family violence is devastating for the entire community.
"For youth who are involved in these incidents as victims or offenders, it is critical that there are appropriate support services and information to assist them," Acting Assistant Commissioner Smith said.
"The University of Wollongong partnership has been very productive for us. The students have been amazing, given us forward thinking ideas, looking at different ways to approach and engage our young people to get the best outcomes for them.
"The app is specifically designed for our young people who are involved in apprehended violence matters or domestic and family violence matters, to give them the information they need, which is on a platform they are used to using.
"That information is easily accessible and it gives them a touch point into the conditions of an AVO, support services and where they can go for help to make sure that they don't reoffend.
"This project is all about reducing reoffending young people. The less contact that our young people have with the criminal justice system the better off everyone is."
UOW student Stephanie Seymour said remote learning presented some challenges in developing the app.
"We are glad to work on something that would actually benefit real people and have users in the real world," she said.
"We hope the app can be a way of providing information to young people that is more aligned with the systems that they use and more accessible for young people."
Youth Justice Wollongong manager Paul Cram praised the work of police, justice and the University of Wollongong.
"Youth Justice look forward to the implementation of this app which will greatly assist the work we do with both perpetrators and victims of domestic and family violence in the youth cohort," Mr Cram said.
"This would not have been possible without our ongoing partnership with the University of Wollongong and we thank and congratulate them for their outstanding contribution."
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