Youth justice system
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:10): (512) I have a question today for the Minister for Youth Justice. Minister, last month your government announced, as part of the youth justice bill expected shortly, that Victoria would trial the use of GPS tracking ankle bracelets on 50 young people. Evidence from New Zealand’s, the United Kingdom’s and the United States’s implementation of ankle bracelets as an alternative to youth detention shows that the devices have not only failed to curb recidivism but can, worse, lead to increased rates of offending and incarceration. The use of GPS monitoring of children is a direct act of criminalisation, and it is in direct contradiction to what youth justice experts recommend. It is also the antithesis of the purpose of reforming the youth justice space. Why is your government supporting a measure that has not only been proven to fail but will make crime rates worse?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:10): I thank Ms Copsey for her interest in my youth justice portfolio and particularly in relation to our most recent announcement with electronic monitoring for youth offenders. From the outset let me be very clear: as a government we do not want to see young people come in contact with the criminal justice system in the first place. That is why we have invested in our early intervention and diversion framework, and we have been successful in diverting thousands of young people away from the criminal justice system very early on.
But what we do see is that there is a small group of young offenders that are repeat offenders, high-level offenders, that are out in the community. It is important and the community expects that where they are breaching those court orders – in terms of our trial it will be up to 50 – whether those electronic monitors or devices are put on young people will be at the discretion of the bail decision maker. So whether they are used and how they are used will be up to the courts. I think that is important to state as well for the record. This is another measure about keeping the community safe. For these young people, we want to see them address their underlying behaviour, because we know that is better for them, it is better for their families and it is better for their communities.
Part of our announcement – it was not just electronic devices; I know that got a lot of attention – was also about enhanced supervision as well, making sure that they are complying with those orders, making sure they are doing the educational programs that turn their lives around and making sure that they are engaging with family and sticking by what the court has ordered they comply with. So there are a whole range of reasons why we are doing this trial. It is a trial at this stage, but I think it is necessary. We need to try all options to make our community safer.
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:12): Thank you, Minister, for the answer. I hear what you are saying, and I think that this kind of goes to the heart of my concern around the vulnerability and isolation of the cohort that is being targeted by this measure. Stakeholders and the research evidence base have been very clear that children and young people with visible monitoring devices, ankle bracelets, become so stigmatised that they are further excluded from the broader community, meaning those with ankle bracelets often only associate with other accused offenders, none of whom are able to engage in meaningful activity like work or study because of the barriers created by wearing the ankle bracelets.
The government abandoned a similar monitoring trial – so this has been done before – on young people on parole in 2018 based on expert advice about the harms that these practices caused to children. The children deserve multisectoral reintegration support, as you touched on. The funding for this trial should be directed into those measures – into rehabilitation, not criminalisation. Minister, what do you say to those stakeholders who warn that ankle bracelets will stigmatise children, especially First Nations people, and young people and set them up to fail?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:13): I thank Ms Copsey for her supplementary question. I want to thank all stakeholders for their input, but I think it is important to understand that this is a very small group and targeted to those repeat, high-level offending young people. Their utilisation is a matter for the courts. I am sure the courts will consider all those factors before placing them on young people. But it is not just a focus on the device, we also need to focus on the enhanced bail and ensuring participation in programs, because I think those programs are the key to seeing a change in young people. They are about addressing those underlying behaviours, which will be better for those children, so that they are safer as well into the long-term future and so their families are safer. Because many of them are not necessarily listening to their own families and are breaching curfews and some of the restrictions and rules and supervision orders that the courts have made. I would like to see them engage in education, see them engage with their health providers and see better outcomes for them. I think this will provide that opportunity. It is a trial, so I look forward to seeing the findings of the trial.