New South Wales, Australia, proposes tougher penalties for minors
In the Australian state of New South Wales, the government has proposed applying adult penalties to minors if they are convicted of violence linked to organized crime. The proposed package of measures also provides for a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for new aggravated offenses related to conspiracy and attempted murder, ABC News Australia reports.
Position of police and the government
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said that figures from the criminal underworld are using the darknet to hire children to commit crimes for small sums of money. According to him, some of these minors do not consider the consequences of their actions.
State Police Minister Yasmin Catley called this model a “game of whack-a-mole”: after one person is removed from the streets, another appears, including a vulnerable young person. Over the past 12 months, Taskforce Falcon, established to combat violence linked to organized crime, has arrested more than 800 people, including minors.
Last week, student Marco Tapia and 40-year-old Joshua McDonald were killed in separate shootings. New South Wales Police suspect that the victims may have been mistakenly identified in both cases.
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Calls not to criminalize exploited children
Justice Reform Initiative Executive Director Mindy Sotiri said children should not be punished for exploitation by adult gang members. In her view, the involvement of minors by groups in committing contract crimes should be regarded as a form of child abuse and exploitation.
Sotiri stressed that imprisonment itself causes harm, increasing children’s social vulnerability and the risk of repeat offending. According to her, in Australia, 85% of children who go to prison end up there again within 12 months. She also said that about 208 children are being held in New South Wales prisons, most of whom have not yet been convicted or found guilty.
Youth Justice NSW Executive Director Kelly-Anne Stewart noted that learning difficulties, homelessness and unstable housing, disability, mental health problems, drug and alcohol use, poverty, and intergenerational trauma are common among young people who come into contact with the service. According to her, the state government allocated $146.3 million in its latest budget for early intervention and youth diversion programs.
