NSW Attorney-General grilled on NSW’s youth crime wave

Michael Daley faced a grilling over increased rates of youth crime, especially in regional and rural communities, with NSW Premier Chris Minns convening a working group to target regional youth crime following his recent visit to Moree.

He said tackling the issue was about addressing the causes of crime by ensuring pastoral care was given to families, education initiatives and addressing drug and alcohol problems.

“There’s no easy fix. This won’t be done in a year or two or 10. These are very slow moving programs,” he said.

“What you need to do is to start now and make sure that you invest in and conceive of programs that will survive the decades through changes of government.”

Mr Daley said there were two separate working groups to tackle the growing youth crime wave, in addition to the one done created by Mr Minns which addresses growing levels of regional crime, which is being committed by both youth and adult offenders.

During estimates, Liberal MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones questioned which minister was ultimately responsible for lowering levels of youth crime, and accused the government of “passing the buck,” which Mr Daley rejected.

“But ultimately, you are the chief law officer of the state, the buck should stop with you,” she said.

Mr Daley said multiple ministerial offices had convened to put together a “multifaceted, co-ordinated response,” which included aspects of youth justice, out-of-home care, homelessness, and drug and alcohol policing.

The Department of Communities and Justice has also been asked to review the support services and diversionary measures for young people.

According to the most recent statistics from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, the northwestern town of Bourke had the highest level of serious offences (90) when compared to its 2389-strong population.

Moree in northern NSW had the second highest rates of offences committed by youth per capita, with 216 serious offences out of 9708 people.