Exploring the rise of youth crime & the government programs made for young offenders.

Time to Read

9–14 minutes

In the heart of Melbourne’s business district, surrounded by skyscrapers and busy roads, a group of adolescents desperately search means to survive the night; snatching food from tables to stop the constant pangs of hunger. The teens should be at home, sharing a warm meal with family. Most of their peers would be sitting at the dinner table, passing food around and chatting about their days, some would be eating alone but they would be at home, with a safe space to sleep. This group isn’t lucky enough to have a loving, caring and supportive family.

Lily Smith* was 16 years old and now homeless, after years of abuse she was kicked out and forced onto the streets, with no place to call home. During her time without proper housing, she found herself surrounded by other young people who had been sleeping on the streets for some time and had to adapt and learn in order to survive. 
Smith was taught the only way to survive; to beg and steal. Committing petty crimes became the only way she could survive the harsh reality she now faced. Smith remembered that the teens around her would say “it’s easier [to get arrested] than finding another roof to sleep under,” as the alternative option was a life filled with robbery, begging and substance abuse.

“It’s getting really hard to stay clean.”

Smith had been battling addiction, and on a especially difficult Saturday night she had worked up the courage to call her caseworker. After hearing her cry for help, Smith’s caseworker immediately decided to take the two hour and forty-minute journey from Apollo Bay to Melbourne’s bustling CBD, placing Smith into emergency accommodation.
Lily Smith now works as an outreach worker, specialising on trauma informed care through kickboxing sessions. It was in her toughest years that she found her outlet through the sport, using it as a way to recharge. Smith is proud of her outreach and continues to support and guide young people into healthier forms of self-expression through her work. Her history and story allow her to connect with youth who find themselves in similar situations she was once in. 

Currently there is no youth homelessness prevention program, instead the focus has shifted on a social and affordability housing plan—announced in early 2023. 

The plan is dedicated to help those across the state facing homelessness, with plans to develop 6,000 homes and apartments across Victoria.  Along with this, the plan includes utilising surplus government land to develop new housing. The five-year plan includes facilitation and supply of social and affordable housing with development and implementation worth a sum of over AU$58 million for the Homes for Victorians strategy.
On the 13 February 2023 the Andrews Labor Government committed to building over 130 new homes for young Victorians, this was implemented to address youth homelessness and create the support that people facing homelessness need. The $50 million investment will be shared between eight registered housing providers and community service organisations and the homes will be built in accessible locations, situated near public transport, education, and employment. Some of the housing options being built include youth foyers, youth supported accommodation and projects that focus on Victorian youth leaving out of home care—such as residential care units. About 3,600 young people aged 15-17 transition from care each year, with 35 per-cent estimated to be Indigenous Australians. The government needs to address framework gaps, as young people exiting of out-of-home-care are met with a disadvantage compared to their peers. 

Some of these issues include:

• less access to further education
• less employment opportunities
• unstable housing

These individuals may age out of the system, finding themselves without a roof over their heads. The Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 seemed to establish assistance from the government to provide young people leaving care with aid in adequate housing, employment, education, training, legal advice, counselling, as well as health and community services. 
However, phrasing of the Act means that the government has no legal obligation to assist in any of these basic necessities.Government assistance is not enforceable by law and is not an entitlement for those leaving care, according to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Section 16(2)). 

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute found that many youth who leave care are left without a home. Poor transition planning, no dedicated housing service and limited affordable accommodation are just some of the factors contributing to youth homelessness. Meanwhile, The Australian Institute of Family Studies has consistently reported poor outcomes for those who leave out-of-home-care, with growing concern in areas such as housing, substance abuse, training and employment, mental health, financial hardship, social disconnection and interaction with the criminal justice system.

1,200 young people aged 15-24 came to a Victorian Specialist Homelessness Service in 2021-2022, many of which suffered long-term mental health issues caused by long-term homelessness.

From 2021-2022 crime rates committed by youth had been steadily decreasing, according to ABS data. Now, once again, the crime rates have been rising. Crimes from assault to dangerous driving and aggravated residential burglaries has increased specifically within the youth cohort. 
Currently the Children’s Court Youth Diversion Service (CCYD) is a pre-plea option for young people with little or zero previous connections with the Youth Justice system. The CCYD works as an alternative to other programs which prevent the offender into further progression into the criminal justice system. The other options for Youth Justice includes police cautions, The Ropes Diversion Program and the deferral of sentencing with group conferencing.The Ropes program is a one-day interactive education program, which along with educating young people, acts as a way for the police force to build rapport, connection and trust with first-time young offenders. 

Over the course eight years (2012-2020) Ezra Jones* worked within the Victorian police force, employed as a general duties officer in the City of Yarra. 
General duties officers act as the first responder to crimes and public needs. Through this role he interacted with many young people, including first time offenders.

“The age of offenders has stayed relatively the same [post COVID], we have noticed that younger children have started committing more serious offences and the severity of the offences in younger offenders has increased.”

At the time of his employment as a general duties officer, Jones assisted in Ropes. The program was first implemented by Victoria’s legal court system to promote alternative avenues of youth development. 

“Our Ropes program was at our local rock-climbing centre, and we would build a rapport with these kids, we would work on trust and let them know they can trust us, and that we trust them when we’re climbing up the walls.”

In addition to the Ropes program, focus groups and discussions aimed at working through issues that the youth may be facing with a third-party explanation of the risks associated with continuous offending. Working as a preventative measure to further criminal conviction.

“Ultimately it’s our initiative and the courts initiative to try and get these young offenders’ home, through bailing them or a courts summons—we prefer to do that unless it’s some pretty serious offending.”

After the young offender has been processed at the police station and gone back home, an external counselling and wellbeing agency is contacted by Victoria Police as a resource for these adolescents. The Victorian Police Force collaborates with youth workers, creating tactics which will benefit the young people in the long-term, such as court ordered counselling.

“I would often have phone calls where some parents … they wouldn’t necessarily come from a rougher background or have a criminal past themselves. We would often get quite loving well-to-do families. They were almost blown away that their child was in a police station. It [the family situation] varied greatly.”

Youth offenders don’t fall into a specific category of ethnic background, financial class or family situation, there are no explicit indicators of who will offend, media coverage of youth crime tends to feed into racist biases that some members of the public hold, with comments on social media platforms placing the blame of the “crime wave” on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders,  Sudanese-Australians and other select ethnic groups.

However, in 2020-21 Indigenous Australian youth made up 46 per-cent of all young people under the supervision of the youth justice system. The over-representation of this group is caused by the social and economic circumstances. Recognised by The Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework, the link between higher crime rates and generations of European colonisation created long-term issues, for First Nations people(s) including:

• disruption of culture
• social exclusion
• racism
• economic exclusion

Jack Navin, a residential care worker had just moved from Melbourne to The Sunshine State. Navin, already nervous for his first week at his new job, read the file of his newest client. The young person had just came out of Cleveland Youth Detention Centre. Building rapport, connection and understanding is at the heart of Navin’s work. As the sun began to set and the day turned to night the young person had breached the conditions of his bail, absconding (left placement without permission). Navin spent the night trying to get the teen back into the car and back to the care unit, taking him three hours. The result of the child leaving care without permission was police intervention.

Navin previously worked in Melbourne as a residential care worker but has since moved to Northern Queensland. 

“A lot of these kids who are about 12-16 are going through this juvenile system and once they are out it’s not too long before they’re back in, it’s the cycle that these kids are in,” Navin said.

Youth work focuses on empowerment of the individual to help themselves first. 

“At the end of the day when you’re a youth worker, you’re not a judge, you’re not a police officer, and you’re not their parent.”

Young people need more assistance and community engagement programs. Early intervention and diversion programs already support the youth cohort who can access them. The Victorian Government has implemented a new 10 year Youth Justice Strategic Plan (2020-2030) to reduce the number of youth incarcerations across the state. Personalised case management for every young person acknowledges the distinctive needs and risks while interacting with the Youth Justice system, rehabilitation, reconciliation, and education as a primary goal of the engagement system, that aims to transition young people back into education and employment pathways. 

Youth Offending Programs allow the young people to address outstanding offences, which along with community engagement, builds upon the reintegration of these young people into society. Targeted intervention and support, as well as incentives for good behaviour provides young people with the opportunity to progress into less-restrictive accommodation units. The focus of education is further explored with the implementation of structured days overseen by the Department of Education and Training.

Overall, the introductory steps have been taken to address this ongoing and ever-present issue within our society. Homelessness, transitional housing, crime, and the prevention of these issues for young people’s futures can be helped with the correct implementation of such strategies.

Government funding and appropriate resources in addition to social support is needed to create a better future for young people.

*Names have been changed due to privacy concerns