Adult and youth members of street gangs operating in South Australia are set to face tough new restrictions

Street gang members operating in SA are set to face stringent restrictions on their activities under new proposed laws unveiled by the state government.

Adult and youth members of street gangs operating in South Australia are set to face tough new restrictions on who they can hang out with, what they can do, where they can go and how much cash they can carry under proposed “bespoke” legislation that mirrors the state’s anti-bikie laws.

The proposed laws, unveiled by the state government for consultation on Tuesday, also makes it an offence to recruit new gang members, with anyone caught attempting or successfully luring someone into a gang facing up to three years in jail.

The Advertiser reported in March that the government was considering introducing gang meeting bans, similar to the outlaw motorcycle gang anti-association laws.

The released legislation, which is expected to be passed later this year, goes a step further in a bid to tackle street gang crime.

Alleged members of street gang KBS. Picture: Supplied

The new legislation mirrors state anti-bikie laws.

Under the mooted laws, the Governor would be empowered to prescribe a group a “street gang” on recommendation by the Police Minister.

The definition of a street gang, for the purposes of the legislation, is a group that comprises three or more people, who organise, engage in or support serious offences and who represent an “unacceptable risk to the safety, welfare or order of the community”.

Once a gang is declared, the Police Commissioner is empowered to apply to the court for a control order over individual members.

The control order could ban the person from one or more specified activities, including:

ASSOCIATING with a specific person or a specific group;

BEING in or near a certain place or premises;

POSSESSING specific weapons;

CARRYING on their person more than a specified amount of cash;

USING for communications purposes, or being in possession of, a mobile phone, computer or other communication device except as may be specified;

TAKING part in other conduct that the court considered to be relevant to the commission of serious offences.

Anyone caught breaching a control order would face up to five years in prison.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher on Tuesday unveiled new proposed laws to crack down on street gang crime. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe

Attorney-General Kyam Maher described the proposed laws as “bespoke” and “nation-leading”.

“This is squarely aimed at disrupting the criminal activity of street gangs in South Australia,” he said.

SA Police has long been investigating alleged criminal activities carried out by gangs involving youths of African backgrounds known as 051, from Kilburn, and Killa Block Squad, or KBS, from the northern suburbs.

Police say these gangs have been involved in aggravated assaults, stabbings, affrays and drive-by shootings.

In late 2023, a new youth gang, which was aligned with KBS, called 092 emerged.

Since 2003, police have also been focusing on a specific groups of offenders, the majority of whom were males of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent, who were involved in violent crimes.

Two long-running police taskforces that focused on the above gangs were merged in February this year to create a new super operation called The Youth and Street Gangs Task Force.

The new task force, which has also been bolstered by additional officers, as of last Friday had made 104 arrests and laid 260 charges.

Originally published as Adult and youth members of street gangs operating in South Australia are set to face tough new restrictions