Wednesday, 19 November 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (18:31): (2154) My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General, and it relates to the government’s youth justice policy. Last week the government announced its latest slogan-based crime policy ‘adult crime, adult time’. I must say that I never expected to see the Victorian Labor government so blatantly follow the lead of the Queensland LNP when it came to our justice policy. The immediate response from community legal centres, youth organisations and the wider legal sector has been loud, and it should be heard by this government. I am not for a moment ignoring worsening crime in Victoria. I know that Victorians are starting to feel unsafe in their homes and going about their lives. That is not acceptable, and it is something that we must address as a Parliament, but the government’s latest measure will not reduce crime or make Victorians safer. What it will do is harm young and vulnerable Victorians.

The recently announced violence reduction unit is a positive step. Many of us have been calling for better early intervention programs for some time now, but for those already caught up in the justice system ‘adult crime, adult time’ condemns youth offenders to a life behind bars. Even the state Ombudsman has taken the extraordinary step of issuing a warning about this policy shift. She has warned that it will lead to less humane treatment of young inmates, less effective rehabilitation and no improvement in community safety. Already this year we have seen a 20 per cent increase in allegations of misconduct from prison and youth justice services, including the use of force and misuse of power. Considering all of the justice changes made by this government, the Ombudsman has predicted a 157 per cent increase in youth justice complaints. Keeping kids in the justice system also poses the risk of them being turned into hardened criminals and staying in the system into the future.

And let us remember that they are just kids. Many of them have turned to crime because they have been failed by the settings that are supposed to protect them. Many of them have been victims of crime themselves. This comes at a time when the government is slashing all of the things that we know are proven to prevent offending in the very first place: a good education, housing, access to family violence services, community services, community sport and the list goes on. In its desperate bid to be re-elected the government has sent a clear message that vulnerable kids should be condemned to a life of misery. So the action that I seek is for the minister to explain whether the government will instead focus their efforts on preventing crime before it begins rather than responding with blunt, punitive life sentences that just do not work.