Indigenous youth crime up in Victoria amid commission’s call for detention to be scrapped

The latest Victorian crime data has revealed Indigenous youths have committed more than 3000 alleged offences in the year to March as some call for the abolition of juvenile detention.

As the Yoorrook Justice Commission calls for the abolition of jailing offenders aged up to 16, crime data reveals the number of offences committed by young Indigenous offenders is rising.

More than 3000 offences were committed by Indigenous youths aged 10 to 17 for the year to March, according to data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency.

Offenders aged 10 to 14 committed 1081 alleged offences this year, a jump from 740 incidents recorded last year.

Offences categorised as “crimes against the person” were up from 282 incidents the previous year to 378 this year, while property and deception offences had the highest alleged incidents and increased from 393 incidents last year to 614.

Public order and security offences committed increased from 28 to 52, justice and procedures offences increased from 19 to 26, and drug and other offences decreased from 18 last year to 11 this year.

On Monday the Yoorrook Justice Commission handed down its second interim report, in which it demands juvenile detention be stamped out for criminals aged 16 and younger.

Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency chief executive Muriel Bamblett welcomed the report as she emphasised the need to investigate the circumstances of young Indigenous offenders.

“Aboriginal people have been pushing for raising the age to 14, and so we believe that young people shouldn’t be put in prison,” Professor Bamblett said.

“Quite often the juvenile justice system is the only system that actually starts to hear the voice of young people and talk to them about the issues that they’ve been presented with.

“Particularly Aboriginal people have to deal with a lot of death and suicide, grief and loss, mental health, abuse, drug and alcohol and homelessness.”

Professor Bamblett, who is also chairwoman at the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, called for family-based treatment, mediation and conferencing for youth offenders.

Yoorrook Justice Commission members, Kevin Bell, left, Sue-Anne Hunter, Eleanor Bourke, Travis Lovett and Maggie Walter. Picture: Brianna Young

“I’ve been to a number of the facilities that house our children and young people, and you know, quite frankly, I’ve got two young grandchildren and I wouldn’t want them housed in those big cement buildings with bars,” Professor Bamblett said.

“I think that’s where children learn about really bad peers and behaviours. I think we’ve got to be able to break the cycle of criminal activity and make sure that children get treatment.”

Following the report’s release, Yoorrook Justice commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter said First Peoples faced injustice “at every turn” in the state’s criminal justice system.

In a statement to The Australian, Adjunct Professor Hunter said racial profiling, over-policing and inadequate cultural awareness training contributed to inequities in the system.