Allan govt set to strengthen Victoria’s youth bail laws in a crackdown on crime
The Allan government is considering making changes to its youth bail reforms, just a month after unveiling them, as public outrage rises over Victoria’s teen crime crisis.
Police & Courts
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Victoria’s youth bail laws would be toughened under plans being considered by the Allan government to crack down on the state’s worsening youth crime crisis.
The Herald Sun can also reveal that the government is canvassing potential changes to its landmark youth justice reforms, just a month after unveiling legislation to overhaul the system.
The mooted changes would raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 and encourage police to avoid charging youths and instead use a legislated scheme for warnings, cautions and early diversions to deal with young offenders.
Electronic monitoring would also be legislated as an optional bail condition for repeat offenders.
However, multiple government sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the government was looking to address increasing community angst amid a spate of high profile youth crimes in recent months.
They include the tragic death of trainee doctor William Taylor who was hit and killed in a horror car crash earlier this month.
Police allege a group of teens were joy-riding in a stolen car that ploughed into Mr Taylor’s vehicle.
The 17-year-old police say was driving the stolen car was known to police and breached his bail conditions just days after being bailed over Mr Taylor’s death.
Latest youth crime data, released in June, revealed crimes involving children as young as 10 had skyrocketed to their highest levels since 2010.
Children aged 10 or 11-years-old recorded a 52.6 per cent spike in the number of offences committed, while those aged 14 to 17-years-old were considered “over-represented” in burglaries, assaults, robberies and car thefts.
Separate data released exclusively to the Herald Sun in June found a child criminal breaches their bail every three hours in Victoria, with youths aged 12 to 17 breaching bail more than 2770 times last year.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes this week said the government was exploring changes to the application of the unacceptable risk test and to revocation of bail.
She said major changes to bail rules were “not on the cards” but government sources later revealed it was likely that there would be some changes.
Shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien called on Labor to “admit that they got it wrong when they weakened bail laws in March this year”.
“Victoria is in the grip of a youth crime crisis which is getting worse because of Labor’s weak bail laws,” he said.
Human Rights Law Centre Director Maggie Munn said any changes to bail laws “must ensure children are spending less time in prison before trial, not more”.
“The Allan Government faces a choice: to continue ratcheting up a ‘tough on crime’ political agenda which has failed children and the community, or support evidence-based alternatives which work and ensure that every child grows up with their family and community,” she said.
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