Latest News & Updates

New exclusion laws could ban young people from public transport, Youthlaw warns

July 29, 2026

Youthlaw, Victoria’s specialist legal service for young people, says new Workplace Protection Orders could see young people banned from trains, trams and buses on alleged conduct that has never been proven in a criminal court. Youthlaw is concerned this could cut them off from travelling to school, work, court dates and healthcare.

The Victorian Government has today announced the introduction of a Workplace Protection Order Scheme that wouldn’t just apply in shops and hospitality venues but would also ban young people from public transport. Once made, an order can ban a young person from specified transport operators or limit their access.

“For many adults, a public transport ban is an inconvenience. For a young person with no other feasible method of transport, it’s a ban on getting to school, work, or their own court date,” said Youthlaw’s Deputy CEO, Jo Ellis.

The threshold for a Work Place Protection Order would not require a criminal offence to be proven. It can be triggered by “unacceptable conduct.”

“We are concerned that young people experiencing homelessness or struggling with their mental health are more likely to be caught by this law, and lose their ability to get around on public transport,” Ms Ellis said.

Youthlaw also considers these new laws will fall hardest on young people who have the fewest alternatives to get around.

“A young person without a train or a bus isn’t just inconvenienced. They lose their job. They stop turning up to school. They miss a court date and end up with a warrant for their arrest,” said Ms Ellis.

Youthlaw also warns the orders risk creating a cycle of criminal charges for young people who have no way to comply.

“If public transport is the only way you can afford to get anywhere, you don’t stop travelling because of a piece of paper. You have to get around, so you keep breaching the order, and then you have a list of charges and a criminal record for breaching an order that was made based on allegations never proven in a criminal court in the first place,” said Ms Ellis.

Youthlaw is calling on the Victorian Government to ensure that any legislated WPO scheme won’t lead to a blanket ban on children and young people from using public transport. WPO legislation should also ensure an adequate threshold for conduct before an order is made, build in individual assessment of a person’s life circumstances, and consider less restrictive alternatives before any exclusion order is made that would limit a person’s access to public transport.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe at work. But a proportionate response looks at the person in front of you, not a blanket ban that punishes a young person for being homeless or unwell,” Ms Ellis said.

Young people who think they may be affected by a Workplace Protection Order can contact Youthlaw for free legal advice.

STATEMENT ENDS

About Youthlaw

Youthlaw is Victoria’s specialist community legal centre for young people under 25, providing free legal advice, representation and advocacy.

Media contact:

Imogen Cowan – Manager, Social Work (Youth Crime)

0494 727 200 | [email protected]

Youthlaw rejects calls for harsh and ineffective mandatory sentencing laws

June 26, 2026

Every young person in Victoria deserves the chance to turn their life around. Mandatory minimum sentencing makes that harder by tying judges’ hands before they’ve heard a word of evidence. Youthlaw urges the Victorian Government to wait for the findings of the Sentencing Review, and not rush sentencing reforms in response to Victoria Police Chief Commissioner’s recent public statements.

Quotes attributable to Lee Carnie, CEO, Youthlaw

“The Victorian Government is already spending millions more on locking young people up than on community supports that would have kept them in schools and out of criminal legal systems. The focus should be on funding community supports that prevent youth crime in the first place – not harsher penalties for kids who’ve been let down by systems that didn’t support them.”

“Mandatory sentencing takes away a judge’s ability to look at who is actually in front of them. Too many young people pipelined into criminal legal systems have experienced child abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence themselves, but haven’t had access to supports to help them deal with what’s happened to them. Young people’s experiences of trauma don’t disappear just because the government sets a mandatory minimum.”

“Chief Commissioner Bush says young people who offend are focused on impressing their mates and genuinely don’t understand the consequences of what they’re doing. But that’s also the reason why imposing punitive mandatory sentences won’t work as an effective deterrent.”

“The Victorian Government has already committed to a thorough independent review of sentencing laws. Any sentencing changes should wait until the evidence has been properly considered, not rushed through ahead of the election.”

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
E: [email protected]
M: 0494 614 506

“This is not just a NSW problem”: Victorian youth legal service, Youthlaw, calls for independent police oversight as Four Corners exposes systemic misconduct and cover-ups

Youthlaw says young Victorians face the same failed police complaints system and calls for urgent reform

June 2, 2026

Victoria’s youth legal service says Monday night’s Four Corners investigation into NSW police misconduct and cover-ups reflects a systemic problem that extends beyond state borders and warns that young Victorians are disproportionately failed by a system never designed to serve them.

Youthlaw, which provides free legal help to young people across Victoria, says the case of Brad Kellson — who was allegedly assaulted by NSW police and left in the ICU while officers worked to cover up what happened — is a serious but not isolated example of what happens when police oversight systems are ineffective, opaque, and lacking independence.

“The extreme police misconduct we saw exposed in NSW is confronting, but it’s not surprising to anyone who works in this space,” said Sophie Ellis, Manager of Youthlaw’s Crime Practice.

“Young people we work with every day tell us the same thing: when something goes wrong in an encounter with police, there is nowhere safe to go. Victoria’s police complaints system is designed in a way that makes it inaccessible, retraumatising, and in most cases pointless. Most complaints are investigated by police and unsubstantiated. The outcome is almost always the same – young victims of police misconduct denied the justice they deserve.”

In Victoria, the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) is responsible for oversight of Victoria Police, but the reality falls short of genuine independence. Most complaints about police misconduct are referred back to Victoria Police for investigation. Young people, particularly First Nations young people, young people who are over-policed, and young people experiencing homelessness, are disproportionately let down when they experience police violence, and told that their only recourse is an internal police investigation.

Yesterday’s Victorian Government announcement to expand IBAC’s powers to investigate government-related corruption is a welcome step and reflects the kind of evidence-based reform advocates have long called for. But these changes do not address the deep-seated concerns about transparency, independence, and community trust in IBAC’s ability to investigate alleged police misconduct. Expanding IBAC’s remit is not a substitute for a dedicated oversight mechanism designed with victims of police misconduct.

The Yoorrook Justice Commission found that Victoria’s oversight system “routinely denies or justifies police misconduct and fails to hold officers or management to account,” and recommended a fully independent police oversight authority led by a non-police statutory officer.[1] Community legal centres have been advocating for an independent Police Ombudsman that is trauma-informed, culturally safe, and empowered to investigate police complaints, conduct own-motion investigations, and report publicly on systemic issues.[2] Youthlaw backs evidence-based calls for an independent Police Ombudsman in Victoria.

“The Victorian Government knows that an independent Police Ombudsman is needed in Victoria as a critical safeguard to investigate police brutality, misconduct and abuse of force,” said Lee Carnie, CEO of Youthlaw. “Young people who have been mistreated by police have called for it. The Yoorrook Justice Commission has recommended it. The community legal sector supports it. Young Victorians deserve an independent police complaints system that actually works.”

[END STATEMENT]

About Youthlaw

Youthlaw is Victoria’s specialist community legal centre for young people under 25. We provide free legal information, advice, casework, court representation, community legal education and systemic advocacy for young people statewide.

Spokespeople available for interview:

Sophie Ellis, Manager of Crime Practice, Youthlaw

Lee Carnie, CEO, Youthlaw

Media Contact: Casey Dean | Media and Communications Lead, Youthlaw | [email protected] | 0494 614 506

[1] Yoorrook for Justice report (2023) p 20.

[2] Action For Justice: A Roadmap for Change policy platform (2025) rec 44.

Victorian Budget 2026-27 spends big on police, PSOs and prisons, but not on young people needing legal help

May 6, 2026

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

Media Contact

Casey Dean | Media and Communications Lead

E: [email protected]

M: 0494 614 506