Port Augusta youth crime: Young offenders need support, not jail time | Emily Olle

An iron-fisted approach to so-called “youth gangs” of Port Augusta is hypocritical and harmful. These are just kids – if they’re “bored”, let’s fix that, writes Emily Olle.

“We’re gangsters.”

Those are the words of a 15-year-old girl who’s a member of one of three so-called “youth gangs” causing a spike in teenager-led crime in Port Augusta.

An investigation by The Advertiser has revealed that Port Augusta’s streets are being swarmed by groups of 30 or so youths at any one time, some as young as 11, from the small community of Davenport on the city’s outskirts.

Looking for fun – or trouble – SA Police has arrested a number of teenagers from the area over past months over disruptive behaviour, including alleged break-ins and assaults.

“Gangs” is one of those catch-all terms we love to pandy around when it comes to youth-led offending. It even sounds cool to the kids themselves. In their world – where boredom reigns – the “excitement” of loitering and causing a ruckus with their peers is their only outlet.

Members of one of Port Augusta’s self-proclaimed youth gangs, including children as young as 10, roam the streets until midnight. Picture: Riley Walter

But it’s reductive to place these kids under a moniker that assumes they’re destined for a life of crime without looking at the root of their offending.

Many have called for increased police presence or iron-fisted action to be taken. But what will locking these kids up do? It’s well-researched that youth incarceration does not reduce delinquent behaviour.

Research suggests that confinement substantially increases young people’s chances of being reincarcerated. By throwing them in youth detention, their fate becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – set down a path of crime with no return.

When asked what drove his offending, one 10-year-old boy from the “Downtown” gang said he was “bored” and had “nothing to do”.

Rather than laying the blame on disadvantaged youths whose lives are trapped within their communities, youth crime should draw attention to the structural failures that leave them abandoned by the system.

Kids need structure and stimulation. If their parents or carers cannot provide that for them, something has to be offered in their place.

It should also show us the glaring hypocrisy in the way we label offenders by levels of socio-economic status. If a group of 30 private school boys and girls are caught loitering on Kensington Oval with a 10-pack of alcopops each, it’s a slap on the wrist from their parents.

Police and community organisations are working to address escalating youth crime. Picture: Riley Walter

‘Bored’ and without any other outlets, the youths turn to criminal Picture: Riley Walter

If a group of 30 kids from Port Augusta is caught loitering outside store, it’s “youth gangs” and threats of incarceration.

First Nations young people aged 10 to 17 are 17 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous children, while young people in the child protection system are 15 times more likely to enter the justice system than those outside it.

A 2017 federal government survey found young people in detention were likely to have experienced past trauma, have an undiagnosed disability or come from a lower socio-economic background.

Looking to the affluent city kids and their slapped wrists could be part of the answer. Many of these kids stay out of trouble because their socio-economic status and parental or carer support allows them one thing that keeps kids engaged – hobbies.

Funding increased participation in sporting clubs, musical outlets – or even online gaming facilities – could help wandering teenagers focus their energy on something other than cigarettes and break-ins.

There are steps in the right direction. After receiving new state government funding, the Port Augusta Youth Centre in town is open to kids between 6pm and 10pm five nights a week, from Tuesday to Saturday.

But once the centre has closed and kids are dropped home, they often end up on the streets.

Superintendent Paul Roberts said police were working with community leaders and organisations to reduce and prevent crime, while the Human Services Department said community leaders and various agencies had already begun developing a youth framework.

To get these “gangs” off the streets, more support – not jail – is the answer.