Building bridges with local youth – Senior Constable Ian Burns

For Senior Constable Ian Burns, the groundbreaking youth initiative Project Walwaay in the Orana Mid Western Police District

has not only changed hundreds of Indigenous kids’ lives, it’s kept him passionate about the police force.

“I'll be honest with you,” he says. “If I was still doing frontline policing, I wouldn’t be in the police. I would have resigned and done something different by now.”

Project Walwaay, which began in late 2019, is a police and community initiative working to engage with young Indigenous people. Its extraordinary success has led to a 65 per cent drop in juvenile offending in the Dubbo area. This is a city where 86 per cent of all criminal charges against young people in 2018 were against Aboriginal youth.

Ian, who is leader of the project’s Aboriginal Youth Team, along with two other full-time police officers and an Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer, had no idea the program would have such a positive effect. “When it kicked off, we honestly thought if we could see a difference that would be a success,” he says. “But to have a 65 per cent reduction was just beyond anything we’d imagined.”

The program – PCYC’s Rise Up strategy of Fit For Life – spans two morning meet ups with breakfast, sports activities and school drop-off by bus, and a Friday night get-together that includes dinner, sports, video games and cultural activities.

Early expectations were for 25 kids to get involved. By the time COVID-19 restrictions temporarily paused the project’s Friday night get-togethers, between 190 and 220 kids, aged between eight and 17, took part.

Group trips to nearby fishing spots, the local go-kart track and cultural locations are keenly attended. A touch football team formed by participants has gone on to win its grade.

“Friday nights used to be the worst for criminal activity among young people in Dubbo,” says Ian. “But the kids were coming down to the PCYC straight after school and we don’t usually start until 5pm. We get out long lines of tables, we sit and eat together and it's a really good night.

Project Walwaay, which began under the direction of Detective Superintendent (now Assistant Commissioner) Peter McKenna and came together after consultation with community and government youth organisations, received its name from Aboriginal elders. Walwaay means “young man” in Wiradjuri, although the project is for girls and boys.

Ian believes similar youth initiatives could be beneficial in other police stations and towns, and help keep youth out of the criminal justice system. “It’s vital because once these kids get past a certain threshold in their age and their criminality, it's very rare that they come back,” he says.

Building meaningful relationships between police officers and some of Dubbo’s most vulnerable kids has deeply affected Ian. “When you get to know a kid and you’re able to see their growth, being a part of that is incredible,” he says. “You’re so invested it can be heart-breaking if they do muck up again.

“To see certain kids achieve stuff, kids who probably would have gone down a less positive path, it’s like your own children achieving things. You’re just so proud of them.”