Teen criminals visit Gold Coast theme parks on taxpayer-funded holiday

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At least two teenage criminals visited theme parks on the Gold Coast on a taxpayer-funded trip while undergoing rehabilitation.

The teenagers were serving community corrections orders after being found guilty of home invasions and carjackings, the ABC reported, citing anonymous sources.

The NDIS funded the teens’ trip, and is now investigating the claims.

The Department of Justice changed the pair’s corrections orders to allow them to travel to Queensland, where they then visited theme parks and went sightseeing, according to the ABC report.

The trip was funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said on Monday that the matter was being investigated by the National Disability Insurance Agency.

“The government and the NDIS remain focused on shutting down unscrupulous behaviour in the National Disability Insurance Scheme,” she said.

An NDIA spokesperson said it provided disability-related support for all eligible Australians, and it was “not responsible for the rehabilitation of youth offenders”.

A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokesperson said no young people were taken interstate by its staff, and it did not fund trips of this nature. It did not comment on its reported role in facilitating the teenagers’ holiday.

The revelations come as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan last week announced a crackdown on youth crime across the state, including a pledge to send children aged 14 and over convicted of violent crimes, including carjackings, to prison more often and for longer.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush did not directly address the premier’s plans for reform, but said rehabilitation and early intervention was as important as enforcement in preventing crime.

“One’s more long-term, the early intervention partnerships … but they’re both effective,” Bush said on Monday morning.

NDIS officials and MPs have long promised to clean up the almost $50 billion program after reports criminals were extorting Australians living with disabilities to steal their entitlements.

Last week, McAllister said the government would grant the NDIS Commission greater powers to penalise people and companies rorting the system.

“We want to strengthen deterrence so providers doing the wrong thing know they will face consequences,” she said in a speech at think tank the McKell Institute. “It means stopping the rorts.”