Victorian government’s election pledge to monitor young offenders dumped

The state government says a promise to put electronic monitoring devices on young thugs is no longer needed after it dumped the pledge while dismissing concerns about growing youth crime rates.

The state government has quietly dumped a promise to put electronic monitoring devices on dangerous young thugs, ­insisting the measure is now not needed because there are fewer youth offenders.

Leading up to the 2018 election, the government said parolees as young as 16 who had committed serious offences such as murder, rape, home invasions, carjackings or dangerous driving would be tracked.

Then families and children minister Jenny Mikakos spruiked electronic monitoring as a way to “better protect the community” and as a “constant reminder” to young offenders to comply with their orders.

But legislation announced in July of that year did not pass the parliament before its term ended in November and, once re-elected, the government did not reintroduce it.

Jenny Mikakos spruiked the electronic monitoring at the time as a way to ‘better protect the community’. Picture: AAP Image

This is despite police statistics showing a 30 per cent rise in crimes against persons committed by youths aged 14 to 17 in the year to December.

The force has been running around-the-clock operations to tackle the scourge in the eastern and southeastern suburbs.

Officers attached to the separate Operation Alliance, which runs across Melbourne, arrested 416 known gang members for a combined 1511 offences last year.

Among the worst was a 15-year-old boy arrested 33 times over 135 matters.

But the government said the tracking tactic was not needed because the situation was different to 2018 when the laws were first proposed.

On Wednesday, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll said Victoria had some of the “most stringent powers” to track young offenders, arguing that the Youth Parole Board already had “everything that they need”.

“(They) have the power to cancel a parole order, and indeed put a young offender back into the youth justice system,” he said.

“We have put the investment where it’s been needed.”

There has been a 30 per cent rise in crimes against persons committed by youths aged 14 to 17 in the year to December.

He said the government had given up on the tracking policy because it failed to get through parliament.

“That did go to the parliament, and it didn’t get through the parliament, that policy. And we’ve now focused on other areas that we know are dragging recidivism down, and are making sure that the parole board has every power that it needs,” he said.

Dismissing concerns about growing youth crime rates, Mr Carroll said the “youth justice system of today is not what it was five years ago”.

“I firmly believe we have the settings right, and we’re doing what we can, in a holistic way,” he said.

“If you look up Indigenous youth incarceration at the moment, we’re at some of the lowest levels ever. And if you look at what we’ve been able to do supporting a South Sudanese community.

“We are making big investments out in the community that are changing lives.”

In Victoria, the number of young people aged 10 to 17 in detention decreased from 513 in 2020-21 to 397 in 2021-22.

Since 2021, however, crime rates among Indigenous males and females aged between 10 and 17 have continued to climb, including for serious offences, according to the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency.

Deputy Premier Benarroll says the ‘youth justice system of today is not what it was five years ago’. Picture: Getty Images

But Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Kel Glare said tracking measures – while not necessarily ankle monitors – were “absolutely essential”.

“These young people should certainly be fitted with a monitoring device because the ­lessons aren’t being learnt,” Mr Glare said.

“There has to be consequences. These kids see going before the courts and being released back into the community as a badge of honour. They think ‘we got away with it’ and they’ll just do it again.”

One veteran police officer said while crime figures might be stable overall, the kind of ­serious offending by those who might have been subject to electronic monitoring continued to rise.

“I’d put it into the category of a stocking filler prior to an election that gets forgotten about rather quickly … all about window dressing,” the officer said.

Youth worker Les Twentyman says electronic monitoring is a superior alternative to locking up the young. Picture: Tony Gough

Prominent youth worker Les Twentyman said electronic monitoring was a better alternative to locking up the young.

“We’ve got to try to rehabilitate these people and that doesn’t happen in prison,” he said. “As an alternative to jail, I’d tick off on that every time.”

The Herald Sun has been told among the most prolific young offenders is an influential member of a western suburbs youth gang, which he joined in 2020.

The 17-year-old from Wyndham Vale was charged 10 times last year with offences while on bail, on top of seven armed robbery counts and assaults.

He has been arrested 25 times all together and hit with 132 charges since 2019.

Police intelligence indicates the rate of his gang associates’ law-breaking escalates when he is free.

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin said the government had backed away from its own promise to protect community safety.

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin. Picture: Aaron Francis

“Youth crime is continuing to increase at an alarming rate, and the Labor government have failed to deliver on their own commitments to make our communities safer,” he said.

“There are far too many ­examples of young offenders getting bail or released only to commit more violent crimes.”

A government spokeswoman said Victoria had one of the lowest rates of youth offending and young people in custody across the country.

She said in 2022-23 the independent Youth Parole Board cancelled 30 of 70 parole orders made during the period.