Lenient sentencing part of Victoria’s crime gang woes

After taking his time in returning from holidays to confront Melbourne’s problems with gang violence, Daniel Andrews tried to squirm out of the problem by blaming “interstate thugs’’ for the violence: “When we get dozens or more young kids playing up from Sydney who are here in Melbourne, if we’ve got a database we’d know about those kids and what their history is, what their status is,” he said on Monday. No, Premier, it won’t wash.

Victoria has a systemic problem with soft sentencing, with child offenders in Victoria sentenced to less than half the custodial time of NSW offenders for serious crimes such as robbery and breaking and entering. Young people detained for sexual assault or related offences were handed a median sentence of 16 months in NSW, 9.5 months in Queensland and 7.5 months in Victoria. The biggest gap in sentencing between Victoria and NSW is for adults jailed for public order offences. Australian Bureau of Statistics data for 2015-16 shows the median NSW sentence of nine months compares with Victoria’s median sentence of just one month.

A man was recently sentenced to three months in prison for his role in a barber shop brawl involving about 20 men, as the Herald Sun reported, in which one man was attacked with a hatchet and others whipped with electric clippers. This was a prime example of the inordinate leniency of Victoria’s justice system. The offender was already on a good behaviour bond when he was involved in the incident in the inner-western Melbourne suburb of Footscray. Even the offender’s lawyer reportedly described his client’s conduct as “completely barbaric”.

Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Kel Glare reflected public sentiment when he said the trend of light sentencing in Victoria reflected judges and magistrates putting offenders’ chances of reforming ahead of community safety. Fair-minded Australians do not wish to see young offenders saddled with unfair sentences, spending longer than necessary in custody. But a balance must be struck, in the public interest, to deter violent crime.

The lenient sentencing revealed by The Australian’s analysis bears out concerns raised by data from Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council, published on Tuesday. It shows the number of youth offenders breaching the terms of their bail, community correction orders and parole in Victoria has increased five-fold in five years, prompting sentencing experts to call for stronger penalties.

Victorian Attorney-General Martin Pakula says the Andrews government will ensure sentencing standards match community expectations. If so, the government must face facts. Mr Pakula seemed reluctant to do so yesterday, claiming the ABS data was “skewed” and failed to take into account “differences in the elements of offences across jurisdictions”. Brutal assaults, home invasions and thuggery do not vary between jurisdictions. Judicial and government attitudes do. Regardless of location, punishments should fit the crimes, deterring further offences.