The Victorian government intention to introduce harsher bail laws is not smart or evidenced based. Stricter bail laws will not make the community safer. It will not reduce crime.
Many media outlets have been professionally irresponsible producing alarmist rand exaggerated reporting of youth crime. They have stoked unnecessary fear in the community and concerns for safety. Adding to this is the politicisation of youth crime, by both the major parties who see it as their path to government.
We all want the same thing – children and young people not committing crimes in the first place and everyone safe in their homes.
Stricter bail laws are not an effective deterrent for children and lead to more time on remand and more offending, rather than less. The recent Criminal Justice Inquiry and the Yoorrook Commission, to name only a few inquiries have, have provided ample evidence of the damage done by harsh bail laws and the alternatives.
We need to focus on giving young people and their families the support they need to avoid offending behaviour in the first place. This means better support in schools, in communities, for mental health and addressing cost of living pressures. It also means stopping the scourge of family violence and keeping young families safe in their homes.
- The biggest criminal offence being committed in Victoria is family violence. In most Victorian LGAs, the number of IVO breaches alone far outweighs the number of young people committing crimes.
- The biggest spike in crime over recent years has been car and shop theft that are typical crimes of disadvantage.
- We also need to focus on older adult criminal networks that continue to recruit kids.
It costs $7775 a day to lock a young person up in Victoria – and this money is going to the wrong end of the problem. We need to wrap this money around families, schools, mental health clinics and more.
Front line organisations that are working with these young people on the ground need a seat at the table in designing the response – no such organisations were consulted in these knee jerk reactions from the Victorian Government – this is the fourth time this same government has gone back and forth on their bail laws, it is clear they need input from all over the state to find the right answer.
The Government also needs to commit proper funding to its Youth Justice Act to be properly implemented across all of the supports like schools, families, health professionals, employers and more.
As a community we also need to take responsibility for the fact that overwhelmingly repeat youth offenders have been victims of crimes themselves (sexual abuse, family violence, neglect etc) and/or have cognitive disabilities and they or their families have been inadequately supported or cared for. We need to put support around them and their families in the earliest moment in time, rather than locking them up and failing them again. This is what works and will ensure they have the best chance at a good life where they can contribute to community and what will keep our communities thriving and safe.