Attempts to combat anti-social youths in Port Augusta suggest there is a long battle ahead

While most of Port Augusta sleeps, dozens of wayward youths roam the streets unsupervised, clinging on to moving buses and dodging police.

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“Cops! Cops! Cops!”

Dozens of kids, the youngest just 10 years old, take off into the darkness and out of sight of a nearby police car, one of several patrolling Port Augusta’s town centre.

For these kids, this is a typical start to the weekend.

And at 10pm, it’s just kicking off.

As the patrol car creeps along past Gladstone Square, the kids emerge from the shadows, some with cigarettes in hand.

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

“They’re c**ksuckers,” an 11-year-old says as the officers round the corner.

“They always follow us.”

In half an hour, three separate police cars drive past the ever-growing group of kids several times each, occasionally stopping on the otherwise empty street to talk to the youths loitering in the middle of the road.

Each time a patrol passes, the kids scramble for the shadows or shout profanity.

Those on the roof of a public toilet scurry down in fear of being cautioned by police yet again.

Cigarettes are lit, and joints are offered between 15-year-olds.

About half of the kids out on the streets belong to a group dubbed the “Downtown” gang, one of at least three self-proclaimed youth gangs in the Port Augusta area roaming the town at all hours of the night.

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

Some are out as late as day break.

Some aren’t seen by their parents for days at a time.

About 11pm, three boys, including an 11-year-old, jump on the back of a luggage trailer being towed by a Greyhound bus.

They are cheered on by the kids watching, clinging to the trailer as the bus makes its way along Mackay St, before jumping off at the end of the street to cheers from another group of youths.

When The Advertiser asked SA Police for statistics on youth offending in Port Augusta, including how many youths had been charged since the beginning of 2023 and what they had been charged with, it was told the information would only be released under Freedom of Information laws.

SA Police was also contacted for comment on youth anti-social behaviour in Port Augusta.

At Davenport, an Aboriginal community on the outskirts of Port Augusta, many kids are under curfew as part of their bail conditions.

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

Between 9pm and 6am every day they are required to be at home, but rarely are.

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.

Three of those nights are funded by the state government, while two are backed by federal government money.

But manager Dave Hickman said once the centre closed and kids were dropped home, they often ended up on the streets.

“At least while we’re open these kids are at the centre, they’re not running amok in town,” Mr Hickman said.

“What happens after that unfortunately we don’t have any control over.

“Most of the time they’ll go into town and flog stuff or smash a window or do something stupid.

“It’s very, very tricky.”

Mr Hickman said kids had recently begun bringing razor blades into the youth centre. On one occasion, they snapped them in half and tossed them in the dirt where younger children play sports.

This behaviour has led to the youth centre implementing a policy where children who “check out” before 10pm are not allowed to return because of the risk of weapons being brought in.

“I’ve got to protect my staff,” Mr Hickman said.

“They cop it pretty hard sometimes.”

The problem, Mr Hickman said, is boredom.

“There’s nothing in town for them to do,” he said.

“Port Augusta’s got nothing.”

One 10-year-old boy from the “Downtown” gang said he was “bored” and had “nothing to do”.

A 15-year-old in the group, who offered cigarettes to younger kids, said if there were more activities offered for kids in town, he would be off the streets.

Just after midnight on Friday, a group of young girls still roam the streets unsupervised, hanging out by a drive-through bottle shop, trying to cure their own boredom.

“We can go home whenever we want,” one says.

“We’re gangsters.”