ABC reports on the Townsville Street University operated by the Ted Noffs Foundation.  With its doors open for only three months, it has already engaged more than 250 at-risk children.

The CEO, Matt Noffs, explained that the service was the largest of its kind in the country and offers young people a place to come and find alternatives to crime and that he wanted to use the centre as a way to test programs and see what actually works to keep kids off the street.

‘It’s not a silver bullet, but I really feel like these spaces allow for the community to throw multiple ideas at the wall and see what sticks.

 ‘If you can’t find any other work or you’re so incredibly traumatised and everything has been going wrong in your life, then stealing a car and finding some sort of joy in that is going to be easier.

‘You actually need opportunities for that person to find something else,’ he said.

Read the full article here.

Matt Noffs (middle right) wants to test programs at Street University to find the best ways of putting a stop to youth crime. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)