Latest news with #YouthJustice
Herald Sun
13 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Jump in teens held behind bars due to Vic bail laws
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News. The number of violent teenagers accused of serious crimes who have been refused bail has almost doubled since the Allan government introduced its tough new bail laws. New data reveals that as of the start of this month, there were 92 young people on remand in Youth Justice in Victoria compared to the corresponding period last year when there were 46 – a massive 100 per cent increase. The figures – released by the Department of Justice and Community Safety – also show that the number of adults on remand from the start of June was also up, with 2589 refused bail – a jump from 1980 in the same period in 2024. The increase follows the Herald Sun's Suburbs Under Siege campaign which led to the Victorian government introducing the 'toughest bail laws in the country'. Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said the increase in people on remand proved the bail reforms were working. 'We have brought in tough new bail laws which are seeing an increase in serious alleged repeat offenders being remanded,' she said on Wednesday. 'These are the toughest bail laws in the country because we have listened to victims and the community.' Ms Kilkenny said there were also more changes ahead, with new bail legislation to be introduced to parliament later this year. The positive statistics come just days after the state government introduced new 'post and boast' laws. The new legislation will make it an offence for bragging about crimes online, resulting in offenders being kept in jail for longer. The spike in remands follows months of alarming crime rates in Victoria showing they had reached the highest on record, with police laying the blame for the growing crime wave on a group of hardcore teenage offenders. It's been previously revealed that a gang of about 100 youth offenders are responsible for at least 30 crimes each in the past year – carrying out a total of more than 3000 separate reported offences. The bail reforms passed in March made Victorian judges and magistrates put community safety first by beefing up sentences for repeat offenders who break bail. The changes also included the reintroduction of 'committing an indictable offence while on bail'. Another offence of 'breaching bail conditions' will also come into play. Both offences will add an extra three months of jail to any other sentence imposed for any crime committed. It can also be revealed that the state has begun rolling out its new electronic-monitoring program. Four youth offenders currently have monitors as part of two-year trial to ensure young people comply with their bail conditions.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
First Nations leaders accuse Queensland LNP of ‘intent to destroy' Indigenous communities as youth crime laws pass
When more than 100 First Nations leaders gathered for a major summit in Brisbane this week, they set out to give a voice to the young people who bear the brunt of the state's punitive policies but are largely absent from the debate about them. Jerome Wano, a Wakka Wakka and Ngāti Tūwharetoa man, was among dozens of participants who shared their thoughts on how to chart a path towards a better future for Indigenous children. 'Through the voice [referendum], we saw that we reached out our hands to the same system and, once again, it said no,' says Wano, 29. 'We have to change the way that we're doing things.' Held over two days, the Bandarran Marra'gu Gathering Strength summit issued an extraordinary statement on Wednesday, accusing the Queensland government of acting with 'the intent to destroy' Indigenous communities by 'forcibly transferring' children to the child protection and youth justice systems. The event was organised by the Queensland Human Rights Commission in response to what community leaders described as a 'long period of inertia' on Indigenous affairs policy at a state and federal level after the failed referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament. But their calls appear to have been ignored. Even as the group gathered at the State Library of Queensland to condemn the 'egregious breaches of human rights' under the state's youth justice reforms, on the other side of the river, the parliament was bolstering them. The LNP's so-called 'adult crime, adult time' laws were expanded on Wednesday, allowing juveniles to be tried as adults and face harsher penalties for more offences. The move not only defied objections from the Indigenous community but also United Nations experts, who this week said the laws were 'incompatible with basic child rights'. The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, spoke to reporters shortly after the bill passed. 'Here's my message to the United Nations: you don't control me, and I don't answer to you,' he said. 'I say to the United Nations, we make laws to deal with one of the biggest issues this state has ever faced, and it's a generation of repeat, hardcore young offenders.' Indigenous young people make up 70% of people in youth detention in Queensland on an average day. The LNP has previously acknowledged their reforms will likely put an extra strain on youth detention centres and disproportionately affect Indigenous children. The latest political rhetoric does not instil much hope in Katie Kiss, the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, based in Brisbane. 'I think populist politics has taken priority here,' she says. 'There's a perception … that Queenslanders see the need for punishment, rather than prevention and support. And so the investment has been going into those areas rather than actually nurturing our children.' Her predecessor, Mick Gooda, says the LNP 'set the tone' for its relationship with First Nations people when it scrapped the state's truth-telling inquiry as its first act of government. 'Ever since, we've been under a cloud,' he says. 'They've ignored us.' In their statement, First Nations leaders called for the premier to meet with their representatives. They also demanded a review to the terms of reference for a child safety inquiry, announced on Sunday, to ensure it acknowledged the 'systemic harm' against Indigenous children. The premier's office did not respond to questions about whether it would meet these requests. In a statement, the minister for youth justice, Laura Gerber, says the government is providing kids with effective early intervention and intensive rehabilitation, alongside its tough youth crime laws. Gooda says the federal government also bears some responsibility and suggested the prime ministeruse national cabinet to 'call the states out' for human rights breaches. 'Hopefully this big majority and the big voter confidence in the Labor party will give them some give them the nerve to go and take that on,' he says. A spokesperson for the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said the federal government takes its human rights obligations seriously and there were 'existing mechanisms, including ministerial councils' which provide an opportunity to consider such matters.
Herald Sun
01-05-2025
- Herald Sun
Accused youth crim bailed after alleged Bendigo crime tear
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bendigo. Followed categories will be added to My News. A Children's Court magistrate has released an accused youth criminal – who is charged with wielding a knife during a home invasion – because all his alleged criminal mates have been locked up on remand. The 16-year-old faced a magistrate vying for bail on Wednesday charged over a home invasion, burglaries and car thefts in Bendigo, Central Victoria and Melbourne. He was previously refused bail in March following an aggravated burglary in Daylesford where three youth crims allegedly stole a Porsche 911 valued at about $500,000 and a Mini Cooper. The teen allegedly filmed the stolen Porsche doing 250km/h on the Calder Highway and posted it on Instagram. The court heard the teen had also been charged with aggravated home invasion after he went into a Princess Hill home wielding a large serrated knife in November alongside a number of other 'known youth offenders' and stole cash and car keys. The teen allegedly committed the home invasion just seven days after he had been sentenced to a youth supervision order over a spate of aggravated burglaries, car thefts, violent robberies and affrays in 2023 and 2024. Police opposed bail, alleging the teen had been 'living a double life', appearing on the surface to have a 'near faultless' engagement with Youth Justice supports and education, while allegedly going out on 'organised and orchestrated' crime tears. A police detective told the court the teen allegedly continued to reoffend while on bail alongside other known youth crims and had brazenly breached every condition placed on him. The detective said the 16-year-old was a major threat to public safety, allegedly wielding a knife and willing to use it during a home invasion. Legal Aid claimed this time was different, arguing that 44 days in youth detention had wised up the youngster. Arguing it was 'important' to give him an 'opportunity', his legal advocate said he should be released to live with his family. Claiming he was a follower swept along by other alleged youth crims, Legal Aid argued he was unlikely to reoffend because all of his known youth criminal associates were locked up on remand. The court heard the teen had been kicked out of one school, and all but banned from another – with the teen considered a 'risk' of 'negatively influencing' other vulnerable students through his alleged criminal behaviour in the community. However, Youth Justice was now 'pushing' the school to have him back for more than two hours a day, and had planned to enrol the troubled teen in road trauma awareness and violence programs. The magistrate granted the teen's bail application, finding 'there is no doubt risk', but it was an 'acceptable' risk despite amendments to the bail act that require courts to put community safety first. The magistrate said there was 'complex' and 'multifaceted' supports in place to help the teen shift his 'criminal attitudes and bravado' to something more productive. The magistrate said the teen 'runs a very real risk' of being sentenced to further youth detention if found guilty. He will return to court at a later date while Legal Aid contest the bulk of the charges, claiming police cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt he committed the crimes he is accused of.
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- The Guardian
What the case of a young man accused of violent crimes reveals about Victoria's new bail laws
If you want to understand the debate about bail reform in Victoria – and the gulf between the position taken by the Allan government and the recommendations of experts – you could do worse than consider the case of an alleged youth offender known as MMA. His case has straddled the recent changes in bail laws: he was granted bail in the Victorian supreme court only days before they were introduced to parliament, and then had to apply for an extension of that bail last week under the new laws. He also represents other concerns about Victoria's justice system that have been met with state government responses that some experts consider counterproductive, expensive, reactionary, and failing to address the social issues that drive youth offending. MMA (which is his court ordered pseudonym) has no criminal record but he faces serious charges allegedly committed while he was aged 17. Police allege he stomped on someone's head at a shopping centre, leaving them unconscious and stealing their shoes. On the same day, he allegedly pushed over one police officer and stood over them with clenched fists. While on bail for these offences, he is alleged to have committed six robberies, possessed a large machete and been involved in multiple assaults. He was arrested and bailed again in September last year. Police allege he committed two more robberies and an armed robbery in the following fortnight. He was released on bail again later that month, allegedly breached his conditions and was then granted supervised bail in October. MMA attended five of eight scheduled appointments and was expected to attend court in December. He allegedly failed to show up. Police allege that he was involved in an aggravated carjacking, when a rideshare driver was threatened with a machete, and other offences. He was remanded in custody until he appeared before Justice James Gorton for a bail application in the supreme court on 5 March. Youth Justice opposed bail. Its concerns included that MMA told them he did not want any bail conditions with a curfew and would rather 'return to the community on a sentenced order', he refused to engage in an assessment, and could only live with relatives where alleged co-offenders also resided. He maintained connections with young people known to Youth Justice and told them he has 'issues with multiple young people from opposing 'gangs'' and allegedly committed numerous physical assaults while on remand, including on Youth Justice staff. But he also told Youth Justice staff he wanted to get a job and did not want to let his family down. 'The allegations, if correct, reveal an ongoing preparedness to engage, repeatedly, in violent and threatening behaviour, including with the use of weapons, against members of the public,' Gorton found. 'The applicant's history also reveals, if the allegations against him are correct, that his engagement with police, the laying of charges and being subject to a summons to answer an offence and even the imposition of bail conditions have not operated in the past to prevent his continuing to offend in the same way. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'The applicant, to date, has not been precluded from offending by a fear of the criminal justice system.' Gorton found there was a real risk MMA would 'reoffend and endanger the safety or welfare of others or interfere with the administration of justice' if he was released on bail. Under the previous bail laws, Gorton had to consider the need to impose 'the minimum intervention required in the circumstances with the remand of the child being the last resort'. Youth Justice, over the course of the bail application, changed its position to support supervised bail. Gorton found that even if MMA was found guilty of the offences, he may spend longer on remand than the time he would be sentenced to. The judge also found that perhaps the most important factor was that MMA had been in custody for the three previous months, and that it had a 'potential deterrent effect'. Gorton granted bail for two weeks on 14 strict conditions, including a curfew, complying with Youth Justice programs, not communicating with people alleged by police to be gang members, and reporting to a police station three times a week. Last week, MMA was back before Gorton. He mostly complied with the conditions: police showed up three times during the curfew from 9pm and 6am and he was there each time, he reported to the local police station four times (instead of the required six), 'fully engaged' with youth justice programs, and otherwise 'had no involvements with police'. All this while MMA was working 42 hours a week, almost 40km away from home. But Gorton now had new laws to consider. While there remained a need to impose on a child 'the minimum intervention required in the circumstances', the remand of a child was no longer to be seen as 'a last resort'. Despite the new laws, Gorton said, he still had to consider MMA's age and maturity at the time of the alleged offences, the need to strengthen and preserve his relationship with his family, and the importance of supporting him to live at home or in a safe, stable and secure living arrangement. He also had to consider the importance of supporting him to engage in education, training or work, the need to minimise the stigma to him resulting from being remanded in custody, the likely sentence should he be found guilty, the need to ensure that the conditions of bail are no more onerous than are necessary, and recommendations or information contained in any report provided by a bail support service. He said MMA remained an unacceptable risk of reoffending without the strict conditions and extended his bail on those conditions for a month. There is nothing simple about alleged youth offenders such as MMA, despite how those who are charged with offences such as robberies and using machetes are portrayed on the nightly news or on the social media reels of influencers. Locking alleged offenders like these up, experts say, often just momentarily delays their offending, rather than challenging them to change their lives. It is the difference between burning a containment line to control a fire and putting it out. The signs in MMA's case, Gorton said, were 'good and positive'. It will take far longer than two weeks to see what new bail laws will mean for other alleged youth offenders like him, or how they will help a state government desperate to be seen as tough on crime.
