Key questions surrounding Victoria’s planned trial to put ankle bracelets on teens accused of serious offences remain unanswered, including the program’s start date and what schools might accommodate them as students.
During the two-year trial, due to start in April, up to 50 alleged young offenders aged 14 to 18 will be fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets, with $34.4 million provided in the state budget for the scheme.
Ankle bracelets will be fitted to 50 underage offenders as part of the Victorian trial.
Education Minister Ben Carroll said last month teens fitted with ankle bracelets would attend alternative education settings, rather than the state’s traditional “mainstream” high schools.
Alternative education settings include flexible learning options, which are tailored to support children disengaged from education.
When The Age asked the Education Department on Tuesday who would make the final decision on what school would be appropriate for a child to attend, the response was the departments of Youth Justice and Education would work together for an outcome.
But Youth Justice said the final decision on whether a young person could attend a particular school would rest with the Education Department.
The Education Department confirmed on Friday this was the case.
The trial is still due to start this month, but the precise date has yet to be finalised.
Under the trial, the Children’s Court can only order electronic monitoring if it considered a youth justice suitability assessment, and the court is satisfied electronic monitoring is needed to ensure a curfew and/or exclusion zone will be effective, according to the Justice Department.
Crime Statistics Agency Victoria published data in March that showed the number of crimes committed by children aged 10 to 17 last year rose to its highest levels since electronic records started in 1993.
Education Minister Ben Carroll has said teens with ankle bracelets won’t be sent to mainstream schools.Credit: Justin McManus
There were 7414 children arrested a combined 24,550 times in 2024, with 330 “hardened young offenders” arrested three or more times for violent crimes.
Youth Justice is still hiring workers to take part in the two-year electronic monitoring trial, and an after-hours bail assessment worker is among the positions being advertised.
That worker would be expected to respond to after-hours electronic monitoring alerts, including assisting with troubleshooting issues around the devices and providing a physical response to support maintenance teams.
Workers would also install, maintain and remove the devices.
According to earlier remarks from Carroll, there are 78 flexible learning options in the government sector and 35 in the independent sector.
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Rachel Holthouse said her organisation – the peak representative for the state’s independent and private schools – had taken part in “initial consultations” about the trial.
“Once we have more details from the department, we will talk with individual schools which might want to be involved,” she said.
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Rachel Holthouse.Credit: Joe Armao
But the Independent Education Union’s Victorian branch says it has not yet been consulted about the trial, and also has concerns about how it would enhance safety for students, staff and schools.
There are a significant number of alternative education settings in the independent sector, such as Indie Schools and those run by Edmund Rice Education Australia.
Australian Principals Association president Tina King said her organisation was still engaged with the department about the trial, which she described as a “work in progress”.
“We are still undertaking the consultation with the government, and there are a lot of elements to work through,” King said.
She said she was glad the government had responded to the association’s concerns that children wearing ankle bracelets shouldn’t be in a mainstream school setting.
Experts are also concerned about whether the trial will have the desired effect on youth crime.
Dr Joel McGregor, from Swinburne University of Technology, said the issue was complex, but education provided a protective factor for young people in moving away from crime if they were involved in the youth justice system.
“I do still worry about young people in general having ankle bracelets because it is stigmatising,” the criminologist said.
But McGregor said alternative education settings were more appropriate than mainstream schools for alleged offenders because there were additional supports for young people.
“If they are in classes with other young people wearing ankle bracelets, it could be they end up mixing with negative social peers, rather than pro-social peers, and that is obviously a negative consequence,” he said.
Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said it was deeply concerning the trial was due to commence and serious questions remained unanswered.
“It remains unclear exactly which schools will participate, what measures are being put in place to ensure the safety of students and staff, or why this trial is starting with those at the highest risk of reoffending and non-compliance,” she said.
The safety of staff, students and the school community was paramount, she said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.