Victoria’s 2026–27 Budget shows a Government spending big in health and education, while responding to public concern about youth crime. These are important commitments. But when it comes to keeping young people out of the justice system, this Budget falls short.
Youthlaw welcomes major investments in hospitals and schools. These are critical places to identify and respond to young people’s legal and social issues early. But these investments are not matched in how justice system spending is allocated.
When it comes to the justice system, the Budget makes a clear choice: fund the back end of the system, while leaving youth legal services under-resourced. New investments for police, PSOs, courts and tougher sentencing focus on ‘delivering consequences sooner,’ rather than supporting young people to avoid entering the justice system in the first place.
As Victoria’s specialist community legal centre for young people, Youthlaw sees that community safety is built long before a young person reaches a courtroom. Yet this Budget prioritises spending on police, PSOs, courts and prisons – systems that respond after harm has already occurred – over the early intervention that prevents it.
“This Budget invests too late, after harm has already occurred, rather than preventing it in the first place. If we’re serious about community safety, we need to invest in youth legal services that keep young people out of police cells and courtrooms, not just expand the system that deals with them after the fact,” said Youthlaw CEO Lee Carnie (they/them).
At the same time, there is a missed opportunity to invest in evidence-based early intervention. Programs that provide wraparound legal and social support, particularly for young people leaving care or experiencing homelessness, are proven to reduce contact with police and courts by addressing drivers like poverty, housing instability, family violence, and school exclusion.
“A safer Victoria is built through prevention. Investing in youth legal services early doesn’t just change lives, it reduces long-term justice system costs and builds safer communities.”
The Budget does include some funding for prevention initiatives, including the Victorian Government’s Violence Reduction Unit and police-partnered youth mentoring programs. But this does not come close to the level of investment in police, courts, and prisons. There is little detail on how funding allocated through the Violence Reduction Unit will be distributed in practice, and whether it will reach young people most at risk, such as the young experiencing homelessness, poverty, and family violence that Youthlaw supports.
“When the Government’s response to young people in crisis is more police, more holding cells and faster courts, we have to ask: faster to what? For many young people, it means being pushed deeper into a system they could have avoided if the right supports had been funded to help them earlier.”
Youthlaw is calling on the Victorian Government to rebalance its approach by investing in youth legal services who reach young people before their legal problems escalate, and diversion programs that target root causes of youth offending.
“Without genuine investment in systems that support young people before they reach crisis point, this budget risks reproducing more of the same: young people cycling through courts, legal crises, and prisons – at enormous human and financial cost.”
About Youthlaw
Youthlaw is Victoria’s specialist community legal centre for young people under 25. We provide free legal information, advice, casework, court representation, and systemic advocacy for young people statewide.
Media Contact
Casey Dean | Media and Communications Lead
M: 0494 614 506
www.youthlaw.asn.au