The Greens say the Minns Labor Government is pushing through changes to bail and criminal laws that will result in more children being trapped in the criminal justice system and sent to jail. This is in defiance of the views of civil society, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and almost all contemporary evidence that shows sending young people to prison results in worse outcomes for both the child and society.
Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said, ‘Vulnerable children that are committing crimes in NSW deserve better than the knee-jerk law and order responses that Premier Chris Minns has announced today. The $26.2 million that couples this announcement is punitive enforcement money.
‘Young people that are refused bail for break and enters or motor theft offences will wind up in juvenile detention facilities, that’s the honest truth. We know that these young people that enter correctional centres will wind up in adult prisons at a rate between half and three quarters of them,’ she said.
‘No one wants to see young people engaging in crime, but all of the evidence before us shows that tougher, punitive measures do not reduce the incidence of crime – it just further traumatises the kids and damages social cohesion.’
Need for a deeper political response?
Sue Higginson says a sensible, and caring, response to youth crime is doubling down on diversionary and other support services that improve well being and reduce the rates of offending and recidivism.
‘We need to be looking beneath the surface of youth crime, not just cutting the top off of the problem when it is politically expedient,’ she said.
‘The announcement by the premier, that he wants a “balanced response” to youth crime, flies in the face of the causes and solutions to the problem. We know that for every kid in detention, in October last year, we were paying close to a million dollars per child ($985,500). Imagine what we could do if that money was reinvested into community justice programs that prioritised diversion and well being over prison time?
‘We are working across the parliament to establish an inquiry that seeks to address the issues that have been forever present in our justice system. We need to address the causes of youth offending and injustice. These issues have led to over incarceration of young people, particularly First Nations young people and other vulnerable groups, at a cost that is well beyond meaningful community led recovery programs.
‘The premier would do better for NSW if he were to sit up, pay attention, and listen to the evidence,’ Ms Higginson said.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
