NSW regional youth crime inquiry calls for stronger early intervention programs

Australia Broadcast Center

6 days ago

A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into regional youth crime has called for more early intervention projects as the cost of incarcerating a single young offender soars to more than $1 million per year.
Stronger investment in regional youth hubs and better access to drug and alcohol rehabilitation were among the 19 recommendations made in the interim report tabled today.
In his forward to the report, committee chair Edmond Atalla said youth offending was a "deeply complex social issue" that could not be solved through policing alone.
"Tough-on-crime approaches may seem appealing, but they won't deliver lasting change for communities – smart, evidence-based strategies will," he wrote.
Mr Atalla said the evidence showed early intervention was the most effective way to prevent young offending.
He said there were gaps in support for young people, with barely any services available to young people after dark.
"There's plenty of good services out there for young people, but those services end at 5pm," Mr Atalla said.
The report comes after the inquiry into youth crime received nearly 200 written submissions and four public hearings across regional towns like Kempsey, Bourke and Broken Hill.
It found regional crimes like car theft exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 20 per cent in 2023, driven by an increase in youth offending.
Mental illness, drug and alcohol use and prior contact with the criminal justice system were found to be some of the "complex" drivers behind youth crime.
Meanwhile, the costs of detaining young people were found to have doubled in five years, jumping to $2,700 a day or more than $1,000,000 per year.
The report stated this figure did not include "the cost of policing, courts or the cost of the crime itself".
Outreach manager Deb Tougher for the Kempsey youth homelessness service YP Space said the report showed punitive measures for young offenders were ineffective.
Longer employment contracts for youth service providers were another key recommendation of the report.
It found irregular funding cycles were rife across the sector, leading to staff being routinely offered contracts spanning up to a year.
Ms Tough said while YP Space had recently secured funding for five years, unstable funding had previously hampered the efforts of social workers.
"Sometimes if it's a government-funded program, they'll reshuffle it, rejig it and then bring it out as something else," Ms Tougher said.
"By the time all of that happens, any sort of trust in that particular program by the young people or the community is lost."
Mr Atalla said the committee would review policing strategies and justice diversion programs before the final report was delivered by November this year.
"We need the policing, we need all of the other services that are available to divert young kids from engaging in the justice system," he said.