Rising youth crime allowed to fester on Labor's watch
When Victoria Police's Sergeant Tem Hawkes said these words to The Age two years ago, rising youth crime was already a long-standing problem. As we reported in our youth crime investigation in 2023, adolescents and early teenagers (aged 10-14) were the fastest-growing cohort of youth offenders involved in violent crime.
At Werribee Police Station, Hawkes and his fellow officers were part of the Embedded Youth Outreach Program (EYOP), in which youth workers accompanied police on patrols to try to give young people a pathway out of crime.
The program was not born out of woolly idealism but out of a hard-headed assessment by all involved that traditional law-and-order responses weren't working, and could in fact be making things worse. Its interventions with young people reduced their reoffending, even as rates of offending beyond the program continued to rise, according to a Swinburne University evaluation that forecast 1000 fewer offences on an annual basis as a result.
This week's news that youth crime is reaching record levels comes against a very different backdrop. The state government, struggling with budgetary woes in other areas, has cut back funding to EYOP and the Youth Support and Advocacy Service, which provides the program with social workers, and returned to pouring money into prisons.
All the while there is real community concern about rising crime rates, especially youth crime, with neighbourhoods increasingly turning to private security and home-surveillance devices.
From Labor promising to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 – a first step to dealing with the youngest offenders outside the setting of jail, which is proven to turn many of them into adult criminals – we now have Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny measuring success by the doubling of young people on remand since last year.
Loading
From its reversal on changing the age of criminal responsibility to the about-face on bail laws to the recent hop, skip and jump to a machete ban after the Northland shopping centre brawl, the Allan government gives the impression of making up its responses on the run, after scanning the headlines and considering only the political optics.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
25 minutes ago
- ABC News
New Victorian police chief Mike Bush says people should be free to protest without permits
Victoria does not need a permit system for protests, says the state's new top cop, who concedes there has been a breakdown in public confidence in police. In his first wide-ranging interview since joining Victoria Police, Chief Commissioner Mike Bush acknowledged Victorians felt less safe and declared "there's too much crime out there". The chief commissioner's arrival comes at a tumultuous time for Victoria Police, with crime at its highest rate since 2016 and an ongoing tobacco war that has seen 140 firebombings. Public confidence has also been at a 14-year low, with just 61.9 per cent of people having confidence in the police, far short of the force's 82 per cent target. "The data would definitely say that, and we've got to accept what the data tells us," Mr Bush said of the breakdown in public confidence. "We must be operationally excellent — whether we're preventing crime, responding to crime, investigating crime, resolving crime." Mr Bush is a 42-year police veteran of New Zealand Police. He ultimately became commissioner of the force, implementing a landmark crime-prevention policing model that included diversions and warnings for low-level offending. "We are, right now, considering our whole policing approach. I'm very keen to bring those things in, that's what the public deserve," he said. "Prevention is not a soft way of policing, it's just the right way, but we've got to do everything else too so responding is important, investigating and resolving is important. It's about getting the order right." The new chief commissioner told the ABC he did not support a permit system for protests, a measure debated in Victoria and already operating in New South Wales. "We've had a look to see if it will be effective, where we've landed is that it's not worth bringing in," he said. There has been significant public debate about protests in recent years, from the predominantly peaceful weekly marches in support of the Palestine community to anti-lockdown rallies and violent Land Forces protests. Shocked diners also watched on as protesters converged on an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne's CBD earlier this month, with tables and chairs thrown and a glass door damaged. Mr Bush addressed what he described as "polarisation" in the community, saying those with "an extreme view one way or the other are getting more extreme". He said the line between activism and extremism was "quite possibly" being blurred. "If we talk about public protest, absolutely," he said. "If you feel strongly about something, we are there to keep you safe while you demonstrate that. "But what we don't want is extreme behaviour that challenges the safety of other people — not just their physical safety but their feelings of safety. Mr Bush added: "It's only a minority but we should not tolerate the behaviour of that minority." Victoria Police has received independent legal advice that indicated the controversial chant "Death to the IDF" was not an offence. Mr Bush was also unequivocal when asked by the ABC if the chant amounted to hate speech. "No," he said. It came after former Victorian governor Linda Dessau called the phrase "totally unacceptable" and "hate speech" and Premier Jacinta Allan deferred to police when asked last week whether the chant was illegal. Under pressure to act on youth crime, the Allan government earlier this year announced a law reform package that included tougher bail conditions and a ban on machetes. It has also backed down from its pledge to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 — a move Mr Bush's predecessor opposed. Mr Bush would not say whether he supported raising the age but acknowledged there were limits to prevention-led policing. "The bottom line is, we don't want to see young people in prison, but some need to be there to protect the public," he said. The latest crime statistics show there were an extra 92,000 offences recorded in Victoria in the year to March, a 17 per cent jump from the same period last year. Youth crime also spiked to its highest level since records began, with children over-represented in home invasions and aggravated burglaries. Mr Bush was also asked about the state's ongoing tobacco wars, which has seen 140 firebombings by Middle Eastern crime factions trying to seize control of the illicit tobacco and vape market. He would not say whether it was a mistake for the federal government to have deported alleged tobacco kingpin, Kazem Hamad, who his own force has identified as being linked to a deadly arson which mistakenly killed Melbourne woman Katie Tangey. Police believe Hamad, who is now believed to be in Baghdad, is a key player in the tobacco wars who has orchestrated firebombings on his rivals or shop owners who refuse to pay exorbitant extortion fees. "I'm not going to talk about individuals," Mr Bush said. "But I will say on that subject that we have excellent international law enforcement, collaboration and cooperation and we use those partnerships and networks when we don't have a presence overseas." Mr Bush acknowledged tensions were high not only in the community but also among his own rank-and-file officers who have reported low-levels of morale and high rates of attrition. The rank-and-file made their displeasure known in February when officers passed a resounding no-confidence vote in former Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, who ultimately resigned. It followed a protracted pay dispute between the Police Association of Victoria and the Victorian government. Mr Bush said senior police leaders had to "own" the mood among his members. "We've also got to remove things that get in their way, the things that frustrate them, bureaucracy, too much paperwork," he said. He committed to upgrading technology for his officers in the next 12 months, who he said were being hamstrung by red tape. "I'm not going to be embarrassed to say that the New Zealand police are a long way ahead," he said. "We've agreed to partner up to actually not just learn from them, but they're quite prepared to share all of their platforms and technology with us." The Police Association of Victoria has previously said its members have a stake in Mr Bush's success. "He's regarded as a leader who listens to his troops, who connects with community, and has been known to prioritise prevention as the greatest weapon against crime," secretary Wayne Gatt said. "We think, given the challenges we currently face in policing in this state, that these virtues will be invaluable in the fight to win back Victoria."
The Age
10 hours ago
- The Age
Nick McKenzie investigation leads Age's Kennedy Award finalists
The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald have been recognised with 15 finalist nominations in the Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. The awards, named in honour of the late Sydney Morning Herald crime reporter Les Kennedy, this year attracted more than 900 entries of 'exceptional quality', Kennedy Foundation chairperson Carl Dumbrell said. The Age 's nominations were led by Nick McKenzie's investigative series Building Bad which looked into allegations of intimidation and corruption in the building industry. It was nominated for outstanding investigative reporting in a joint Nine Network entry from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes. Senior reporter Sarah Danckert and Carla Jaeger are finalists in the outstanding business reporting category for their story Cash for the Boys, which looked at how underworld figures pulled the strings at ASX-listed technology group Dubber. Loading Age senior writer Michael Bachelard was nominated for outstanding environmental reporting for his story on whether carbon offset schemes in the outback are working. Foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott and photographer Kate Geraghty are joint finalists in the Outstanding Foreign Correspondent category for their work on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Former chief political correspondent, now European correspondent, David Crowe is nominated for Outstanding Columnist, travel writer Andrew Bain and The Sydney Morning Herald's Kate McClymont and Harriet Alexander were among other finalists.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Enough is enough. End the starvation in Gaza
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. Enough is enough Those photos, those stories in TheAge in the last week and the Wilcox cartoon of Gaza, of children starving to death, people dying in the attempt to get food – enough. It is unforgivable that we continue to stand by and do virtually nothing. I don't care whether you call it genocide, I don't care whether you call me antisemitic – I am not, but the killing must stop now. Benjamin Netanyahu must be stopped. If the only real tool of influence we have at our disposal is sanctions, then use them Anthony Albanese. Not only are innocents dying daily, but generational hatred is being cultivated. The Palestinians who manage to live will never forget. Hate will continue to grow exponentially, babies and children will continue to die meaningless slow and horrible deaths, and our world is in deadly peril. Please, our wise and cautious leaders, do something substantive. Karen Morris, Newport This is hatred High school students verbally attacking primary school children with hateful comments in a public area: if that is not antisemitism, racism and pure ignorant hatred, then I don't know what is. Marie Nash, Balwyn Israel the problem . . . Your correspondent (Letters, 26/7) claims the crisis in Gaza is of Hamas's making. Apparently, the real problem is that Hamas won't surrender, not the siege imposed by Israel. Not the bombed hospitals. Not the people who die while collecting food. Not the blockade on baby formula. Just Hamas. But let's be clear: This is not a war between equals. Israel is one of the most advanced militaries on Earth unleashing its power on a captive population. It is Israel that controls Gaza's borders, and blocks humanitarian aid. It is Israel that has killed tens of thousands, levelled cities, and made famine a weapon of war. Pointing the finger at Hamas while babies die of hunger under siege is not just misdirection – it is moral cowardice. Pressure should go where the power lies. And in this case, that's not Hamas. Nadia Green, Sunshine North . . . And the solution Your correspondent (Letters, 26/7) completely misses the point. There is starvation in Gaza and it is Israel causing the starvation through its blockade, and only Israel can end the blockade. Whether there is a ceasefire or not, or whether Hamas goes to Qatar is irrelevant; food, medicine, water and fuel can be let into Gaza today to feed the starving people, but Israel is stopping it. Anastasios Moralis, Ormond Follow France example Israel will continue its deadly actions in Gaza and the West Bank until it is prevented from doing so. Australia should stand with France and the other countries who recognise the state of Palestine. Yes, it's a symbolic gesture, but it also offers a pathway to peace.
