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Welcome back to the Guardian’s first blog post for 2024!
While our blog has been on a short hiatus since the end of last year, we’ve been busy working behind the scenes to make sure children and young people in care and detention have the supports they need to thrive in 2024.

With Christmas fast approaching, and another year coming to a close, many of us at the Guardian’s office are looking forward to a break, spending time with friends and family, and our festive season traditions. But it’s also important to take time to acknowledge that, for many of the young people we work with, this time of year can bring up complex emotions – and they need us to treat them gently and with understanding.

Human Rights Week takes place at the start of December each year, in the lead up to Human Rights Day on 10 December.
This important day marks the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted by the United National General Assembly, in 1948.
Human Rights Week gives us an opportunity to celebrate this international historic event – and check in on how we are protecting, respecting and promoting human rights in our communities.

Over the past month, our weekly blog has explored the key findings from Shona’s annual reports for 2022-23.
So far, we’ve covered her reporting as the Training Centre Visitor and Child and Young Person’s Visitor (about visiting and advocacy for young people in residential care and youth detention). This week, we take a look at her annual report as the Guardian for Children and Young People.

Earlier this month, Shona published her first annual report as the Child and Young Person’s Visitor.
It was a big 12 months for the Visiting Program – after the government announced funding, Shona was appointed to the Visitor role in mid-2022 and work began on recruiting a team of advocates and establishing the program.

In past months, concerns have been raised across the country about the detention of children and young people in police cells. Detention in these environments often exposes young people – who may be primary-school aged, and many of whom have complex disability needs – to adult offenders in the same vicinity, and conditions that are harmful and potentially traumatic for children.

Many of you will have seen or heard Shona Reid in the media this week, following tabling in Parliament of three separate Annual Reports.
Today’s blog looks at the one that has drawn the most attention: the Training Centre Visitor 2022-23 Annual Report.

This week we are celebrating national Children’s Week 2023 (from 20th to 29th October), with the theme: Children have the right to relax, play and take part in activities they enjoy.