Wednesday, 12 November 2025

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (23:04): (2081) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Police and the Minister for Youth Justice. I wish to raise serious concerns regarding youth crime and community safety, particularly in light of the Community Advocacy Alliance’s recent report titled ‘The 300 club phenomenon’. The alliance estimates that around 300 young people are responsible for the majority of violent offences in Victoria, particularly across metropolitan Melbourne. While the government may wish to debate whether there is a crime problem, there are hundreds of victims and their families who can attest to the devastating reality of what is happening in our communities. What is troubling is that the government policy continues to direct substantial resources toward this small cohort of repeat offenders in the hope of changing entrenched behaviour. Rehabilitation is important, but when it comes at the expense of accountability and community safety, it sends the wrong message. We are dealing with a group of young offenders who see crime as a lifestyle, one that brings notoriety, control and power, and they operate without fear of consequences.

The statistics are revealing: in 1979 the Turana youth detention centre held approximately 200 young offenders when Victoria’s population was about 3.5 million; today, with more than 7.1 million people, an average of only 88 youths are in detention on any given night. These figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare highlight a system increasingly reluctant to impose meaningful consequences for serious offending. The Judicial College of Victoria’s bail bench book, as updated, instructs magistrates to apply the minimum intervention necessary for accused young offenders, while acknowledging that this approach carries a degree of risk. I note that this is not borne by the courts, Minister, but is borne by the next victim of a carjacking or machete attack.

We need a recalibration of priorities. The safety of the community must come first. Serious young offenders should face proportionate consequences, including detention where appropriate. Those facilities must be places of structured discipline and education, not comfort or privilege. At the same time, early intervention must be strengthened, schools must keep young people engaged in education and training rather than excluding them, and parents must be held accountable when very young offenders repeatedly engage in criminal behaviour. Accordingly, I call on the minister – and this is the action that I ask for – to review Victoria’s youth detention and bail policies and ensure that the rights of victims and the safety of the community are placed ahead of idealism, because the people of Victoria deserve a justice system that protects them and restores confidence in the rule of law.