Sweet Justice, a new beekeeping program that introduces young people in juvenile justice to beekeeping skills, recently announced it has successfully completed its first program in the Malmsbury youth justice centre in Victoria. 

Founded by award-winning beekeeper Claire Moore, the Sweet Justice program is the first of its kind in Australia. It provides a second chance for young people in the juvenile justice system by teaching them beekeeping skills that are highly sought after in the commercial beekeeping sector. Following the successful pilot, the program will now look to expand to justice centres in rural areas around the nation.

Sweet Justice founder Claire Moore was the winner of the 2019 Victorian AgriFutures™ Rural Women's Award for her project to breed genetically diverse queen bees, and currently runs the Good Life Farm in Kyneton, Victoria. Ms. Moore started the program to address a chronic shortage of beekeepers in Australia:

“If there’s one thing we all agree on, it’s that we need more bees. Beekeeping isn’t a vocation that many people think of when they leave school, it’s presented more as a hobby than as a career choice in Australia. It’s a physical outdoor job that requires hands-on training and mentoring from commercial beekeepers, most of whom are now nearing retirement. There are many reasons why pollinator numbers are globally in decline but it is a serious issue for Australia’s food security; The Australian Almond board predicts we are over 110,000 hives short to meet their requirements of the 2025 almond pollination alone.”

Taking inspiration from similar programs in the United States of America, Sweet Justice matches the need for beekeepers with youth in need of a second chance. Sweet Justice beekeepers (including Ms.Moore) began the training program in September this year, with all students in the pilot program passing their juvenile parole hearings and entering the profession with beekeeping jobs in Victoria for the first time this year.

In a recent interview on ABC Radio, Natalie Hutchins, Minister for Crime Prevention, Corrections, Youth Justice and Victim Support said: “Sweet Justice is a life changing program for the young men in the Malmsbury juvenile justice centre. The program gives young people a career path they wouldn’t naturally have chosen, and a big value for them is the one-on-one mentoring they get that lasts beyond their time at Malmsbury. It has taught them skills of not only handling bees and producing honey, but also to build the actual boxes, to have a marketing campaign, to come up with their own honey company names etc. With these skills they can really change their lives and get back on track, not drift back into the justice system. It’s a great thing to watch in action, the sense of pride these young people have in coming through the program.”

Ms Moore said: “Whilst the decline of bee populations around the world is fairly well known, the outlook for those caught in the Australian juvenile justice system without future employment opportunities is equally as fragile. 

We took inspiration from successful programs in the US such as Sweet Beginnings, which saw reoffending rates drop from 65% to below 4% when the kids, who often have a tough start in life, are given a second chance in beekeeping. Beekeeping really is a perfect skill for these young adults to learn - bees don’t judge, you’ve got to be gentle and kind with the bees. If you do, they’ll be good to you”.

The program is running at a critical time for the nation’s bee population, following last season’s drought, floods and then bushfires, which have had a devastating effect on the bee population in Australia. 

The nation does however have a major advantage over other countries. Due to our world class biosecurity, it is the only honey producing country in the world free of the parasitic Varroa mites, which devastated bee colonies across Asia, North America and Europe.

“Being Varroa free is a genuine opportunity for Australia to step up and be the world leader in the bee industry. The wealth of knowledge our existing commercial beekeepers hold in pollination services and honey production is becoming a cause for concern as an entire generation nears retirement age. We need to pass on this specialist knowledge to the next generation before it is lost. If we can train just a fraction of our young people in juvenile justice into commercial beekeepers, we will be providing employment prospects and a meaningful career to vulnerable young people in an industry that desperately needs a younger workforce willing to learn,” concluded Ms Moore.