On 1 August 2022, Shona Reid commenced her roles as the Guardian for Children and Young People, Child and Young Person’s Visitor, Training Centre Visitor and Youth Treatment Order Visitor.
With the first anniversary of her commencement just past, we sat down with Shona and asked her to share her reflections on the past year.
In recent weeks, the Guardian for Children and Young People, Shona Reid has been travelling regionally to connect with children and young people in care, carers, and service providers across the north of South Australia.
It has been nine years since I last walked out of the Adelaide Youth Training Centre. As
someone who experienced the criminal legal system as a young person, I know how damaging it can be.
Guardian Shona Reid has just kicked off her regional visits, touching down in Ceduna yesterday afternoon.
In our role as advocates and helping to project the voices of children and young in care, we are often privileged to build long lasting, respectful connections with the young people we work alongside. Felicity Graham is an amazing woman who we have the absolutely honour of having such a relationship with.
This is a story of how our vulnerable young people caught up in child protection and youth justice systems need our love, care and support. They need to be listened to, have a say in decisions that affect them and know that we believe in them.
We are thrilled to share with you all that Nunga Oog was officially launched last Friday.
I still consider myself a newbie to the roles of Guardian, Child and Young Person’s Visitor and Training Centre Visitor, with four months having passed since I began. All I can say, four months in: I am worried… and you should be too.
A new report sharing the lived experiences of young people who have transitioned from child protection and the youth justice systems has found that young people are having to leave systems without adequate preparation for life.
Do you have a child or young person in your care who would like to ask a question to Shona, the new Guardian?
We acknowledge and respect Aboriginal People as the traditional owners
and custodians of the land we live and work on, their living culture and their unique role in the life of South Australia.