A former inmate of the Orana Juvenile Justice Centre has labelled the facility a "holiday centre". Twenty-year-old Geoff Fieldsend claims the leniency with which young offenders are treated by the Juvenile Justice and court systems is largely responsible for the high incidence of youth who re-offend. "I've been in the system about six times - on remand and on committal for stealing cars and fighting and drugs and stuff," he said. "But it was like a badge of honour - I came out thinking I was a big, tough man. "If Juvie had been tougher, then I would have been less likely to re-offend," Mr Fieldsend said. His claims follow a damning report into the Juvenile Justice system that shows almost one third of youths had been sentenced to detention once or twice before, 17 per cent had previously served three to six detention sentences, and four per cent had been sentenced seven or more times previously. A spokesman for Juvenile Justice said the department (DJJ) implements court mandated penalites and utilises programs best designed to prevent juveniles re-offending. "These programs are based on evidence from available national and international research on the best methods of breaking the juvenile crime cycle. Mr Fieldsend claims that staff at Juvenile Justice centres are regularly spat on, verbally abused, punched and threatened with weapons, and admits he too was involved with "scuffles" with staff. "But they let them get away with it. "The staff try to do the right thing, but the higher-ups don't let them be tough (on the offenders)," he said. According to Mr Fieldsend, it was his first experience in an adult correctional facility that motivated him to turn over a new leaf. "Jail is a lot tougher, " said Mr Feildsend, who also claimed that young offenders "have no respect for the Judges. "If they did, they wouldn't do it (re-offend) again - they're not scared of the Judge, because they're not scared of Juvie." In responding to the Australian Institute of Criminology's report, Opposition spokesperson on Juvenile Justice Catherine Cusack said the Government must acknowledge that stronger interventions are needed to address the incidence of young re-offenders. "The Government foolishly believes young offenders are best left alone to "grow out" of their problems. "These slap on the wrist and go away policies mean we are missing important opportunities to reduce youth crime," Ms Cusack said. Juvenile Justice's spokesman said the issues surrounding juvenile re-offending are "A spokesman for Juvenile Justice said the department (DJJ) implements court mandated penalites and utilises programs best designed to prevent juveniles re-offending. "These programs are based on evidence from available national and international research on the best methods of breaking the juvenile crime cycle.often complex and can require a variety of solutions and interagency approaches." But Geoff Fieldsend spoke from personal experience when he indicated that the answer was simpler than the experts might believe. "If they knew what real jail was like, they wouldn't want to wind up there. "Juvie needs to be tougher - much ."