By David Washington
Executive Director
One of the stranger aspects of contemporary Australian politics is the trend for governments to drum up fear about young offenders despite a decades-long downward trend in youth crime.
In the recent past, new governments were elected in the Northern Territory and Queensland promising to fix a ‘youth crime crisis’.
The ‘fix’ in most cases involves a more punitive justice system – one that, in some cases, treats children like adults.
These policy responses are not only expensive – according to the available evidence, they are also counter-productive.
The Don Dunstan Foundation is a member of the Justice Reform Initiative, an alliance which seeks to present evidence-based alternatives to prison.
We care about this issue for many reasons, not least of which is the grotesque fact that Aboriginal children are hugely over-represented in the criminal justice system.
Instead of cycling children through detention, these young people need more support – at every level of their lives – and more diversionary programs.
The cost of this additional support is unlikely to be more than the huge cost of detention.
The Foundation is also concerned that a sensationalist approach to youth crime is leading to poor policy decisions across Australia.
Here are some of the facts.
Is youth crime increasing?
Long-term data trends show youth crime has fallen markedly over the past decades across Australia, including in South Australia.
There was an uptick in youth crime post-COVID, but the trend has returned to its long-term pattern of decline.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released in March showed a drop in the young offenders rate in South Australia in 2023-24.
There were 1812 youth offenders in South Australia who faced police proceedings in 2023-24 – a 17 per cent decrease on the previous year.
The statistics also show our rate of youth offending is well below the national average and roughly half what it was in 2018-19.
A SACOSS research report released earlier this year summarised ABS data from 2008-09 to 2022-23.
It shows a huge reduction in young offenders over that period – from 5701 in 2008-09 to 2194 in 2022-23. The trend is similar across Australia, including in those jurisdictions that have introduced new punitive approaches to youth offending.
Young people represent a small percentage of overall offenders – in South Australia, less than 10 per cent.
Read SACOSS’s full analysis here.
So what’s the problem?
A small number of young people are repeat offenders. There is plenty of evidence, though, that our approach to youth justice is increasing the likelihood of recidivist offending.
Rather than making our communities safer, the ‘tough of crime’ approach has the opposite impact.
Here are just a few studies demonstrating how early contact with the justice system leads to reoffending:
https://bocsar.nsw.gov.au/media/2007/bocsar-mr-cjb103.html
As the Justice Reform Initiative points out, policies that rely on the imprisonment of children “ultimately entrench cycles of crime and disadvantage”.
Suicide Prevention Australia has also pointed out that there is a strong link between contact with the criminal justice system and suicide. This profound mental health impact is why it is one of many bodies that want the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be increased to 14 years.
The sobering fact is that this failing and damaging system is costing Australians a fortune.
This year’s Report on Government Services, produced by the Productivity Commission, shows that Australia now spends more than $1 billion a year on incarcerating children (net annual operating cost).
That’s $3320 per day, per child.
In South Australia, the cost is higher at more than $4000 per day.
Are there real alternatives to detention?
Yes, there is evidence from around the world that less punitive approaches can reduce youth crime while also costing a lot less than detention.
The Justice Reform Initiative is just one body that has provided numerous evidence-based policy options for South Australia, with examples from our own backyard, across the nation and the world.
These programs offer alternative approaches at every point of the criminal justice system, giving young people the best chance to avoid getting embroiled in repeat offending.
Most importantly, many of these programs aim to address the root cause of offending, which is often abuse and trauma.
South Australia’s Guardian for Children and Young People, Shona Reid, says the push to increase penalties and review bail for young offenders won’t work: it’s likely more children will be detained, “compounding their trauma, impairing their development, and as a result, increasing their risk of reoffending”.
We can build a better youth justice system, which will likely cost us less and make the community safer. We just need to follow the evidence rather than the loudest voices in the room.
We’ll be publishing spotlight articles on issues of interest like this on a regular basis.
