Premier Jacinta Allan will sit down with key figures in the youth justice sector next week after conceding there is more to do to stop repeat young offenders, saying nothing is off the table as the state tries to curb teenage crime.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes met police, court representatives and others from the legal and youth sectors this week. On the agenda was whether bail is revoked often enough, whether an ankle-bracelet trial for young alleged offenders should be fast-tracked and the possibility of taking a tougher stand on aggravated burglary.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Thursday.Credit: Eddie Jim
Allan said the talks were a precursor for a sit-down between her and those representatives next week.
“We’ll, following those meetings, have more to say about further steps we take,” she said on Thursday. “Everything is on the table.
“We have been absolutely clear; at this stage we are not going to rule anything in or out. There is a bill that does give us a bill if we need to, and we know that the community is expecting us to take further action.”
Four police and government sources, speaking anonymously to detail the internal discussions, said the government would over the next fortnight consider new measures to present to cabinet to stem community outrage before parliament resumes.
Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes.Credit: Jason South
These would be on top of Victoria’s first piece of stand-alone youth justice legislation, a 1000-page bill already before parliament. That will raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, boost the capacity of the Children’s Court and provide for youth supervision orders.
The release of alleged offenders on bail was thrust back into the spotlight after a children’s court heard a 17-year-old charged over a Burwood car crash that killed aspiring doctor William Taylor had allegedly breached his bail within 48 hours after complaining the conditions were too harsh.
Among the options believed to be favoured by law enforcement advocates is upgrading the offence of aggravated burglary from a property crime to a crime against the person. Property crimes do not attract the same penalties and are not treated as seriously by courts when considering bail.
Symes said on Wednesday that she would also investigate whether courts and police should revoke bail more often for young offenders who continued to commit crimes or breach conditions. Changes such as stricter bail supervision or electronic monitoring could be delivered by the end of the year.
She said bail often benefited community safety by keeping children out of the justice system and reducing their risk of reoffending, but this only worked if the rules were followed.
Victorian Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan warned on Wednesday against rolling out “simplistic, populist responses that won’t work”.
After an early-morning police chase through the south-eastern suburbs on Thursday, police arrested five teenage girls suspected of stealing a car in Bonbeach.
Three girls — a 13-year-old from Cranbourne North, a 14-year-old from Carrum Downs, and a 14-year-old from Chelsea — were released pending summons. A 14-year-old rom Seaford and a 14-year-old from Bonbeach were issued cautions.
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