One wrong move with law reforms and cycle of youth crime continues for generations to come
ONE wrong step with proposed changes to bail laws, the age of criminal responsibility and loss of remote cops will lead to the cycle of youth crime continuing for generations to come
Opinion
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ONE wrong step with proposed changes to bail laws, the age of criminal responsibility and loss of remote cops will lead to the cycle of youth crime continuing for generations to come.
That needs to be considered when government make these big decisions.
It’s not just about the youth of today, it’s about their children and their children’s children.
These factors are crucial when determining if youth offenders should get bail, at what age they are considered criminally responsible and the police resources provided to remote communities.
It’s clear there is a serious youth crime issue across the Territory at the moment.
There’s a lack of respect for people, property and even Elders.
But poor, rash decisions now will ensure this destructive cycle of crime continues.
Before rushing through these proposed changes, governments must consider how Elders and community leaders can regain the respect and trust of youth in communities.
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We need laws and programs from today’s governments that benefit not only this generation of youth, but those that come in the future.
In last Sunday’s Territorian, Yingiya Guyula wrote that he wanted to see a move towards investing in community based peacekeepers, so “we can draw on the authority that already exists in our communities for solving conflict and creating order”.
“The current discussion by NT government and CLP opposition about reversing the bail laws worries and frightens me,” he wrote in an opinion piece.
“The more contact that our people have with the justice system, the more we see them become hardened and proud of a jailbird status.
“Elders want to keep our children away from this system.”
However a day later, Alice Springs deputy mayor Jacinta Price said the youth were “not listening to anybody” and Elders and peacekeepers weren’t the solution to stopping the current youth for committing crimes.
Ms Price called on the federal government to continue funding remote police beyond 2022 when the current agreement is due to expire.
In response to Mr Guyula’s opinion piece, reader Peter said: “These kids, who lack an education and an upbringing where they are taught social norms will be having kids themselves in the near future. So if we think things are bad now ...”
Dedicated Daly River locals have been taking rising crime matters in to their own hands by encouraging at-risk youths and their families to go fishing and do activities after school and on weekends.
Respected Indigenous elder and Daly River resident Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann said it was the responsibility of the community to look after young kids who were at risk.
“We’ve got to start walking and talking with them,” Dr Ungunmerr-Baumann said.
“Before early this year and the end of last year, (youths) were going berserk, breaking into the shop, breaking into houses around the community, the school.
“Now they know where to go if they feel down and out or need to be supported, and if they’re hungry, we can get food for them.”
What works for some won’t work for others.
At-risk youth in other communities won’t respond the same way those have in Daly River and that needs to be considered before any law reforms are passed.
Politicians need to ensure that any changes to bail reforms and the age of criminal responsibility (currently 10 years of age in the NT) will help steer today’s at-risk youths on the right path to stop the cycle of crime.
Denise Cahill is the Head of News at the NT News
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