I rise today to speak in support of the Youth Justice Bill ‍2024 and to add my thoughts and contributions to what have been really thoughtful contributions from other members in this place today. I suppose in a quick summary this legislation really is to establish that robust framework that Victoria’s youth justice system needs, and it is about improving our community safety. Before I get into the parts of the bill and linking it a little bit to my own electorate, I do want to recognise or take this time to recognise the profound impact that crime does have on individuals, on families and on communities. It certainly has a ripple effect and touches every aspect of life. I have spoken to constituents who have reached out to me or who I have encountered out in the community who have been victims of crime. It has been mainly theft of property and scams ‍– online scams are a big problem in my community – but it is really that invasion of privacy. It is distressing. They have concerns about their personal safety, and it certainly has that deep lingering effect on people, so I would like to start with acknowledging that. And that is why this bill really is so important. This bill and future reforms that we have committed to doing as a government are things that I also have personally committed to doing to keep our community safe.

Addressing youth crime, though, particularly does require that multifaceted approach, and it is about tackling the root causes and providing support for both prevention and rehabilitation. We are certainly as a government really committed to making sure that reform is done properly for our youth justice system. We have committed to a review of our system and have come out with some recommendations to improve it. The Youth Justice Review and Strategy: Meeting Needs and Reducing Offending is a comprehensive review that was undertaken, conducted by Penny Armytage and Professor James Ogloff, and it really just marked that first examination of a system and aimed to modernise and strengthen our youth justice framework. Some key recommendations around legislation were early intervention and diversion, which is what we have done, but also some systematic improvements and of course investment, which we have also done in this space. Overall the strategy does aim to create a more effective and humane youth justice system by addressing those underlying causes of offending, improving our support services and ensuring that interventions are appropriate and timely. The bill today is clear in its intentions. It is there to reduce reoffending and improve our community safety.

I think it has been mentioned today that we do have one of the lowest rates of youth offending in Australia, but Victoria Police have identified that a small number of reoffenders are driving an increase of serious offences, and they are being committed by young people. That is where that Youth Justice Strategic Plan 2020–2030 plays a large part in our reforms in going forward. The plan also recognises the harm caused to victims, and we also recognise that many young people who end up in the youth justice system are also victims and maybe in their background have experienced abuse, trauma and neglect. There may be mental health issues, drug and alcohol issues, and they may be not engaged in what would be traditional education, training or employment. A significant proportion of young offenders also have been in various services and interventions, such as child protection, family support, disability and homelessness services, and that is before they have entered into any involvement in the youth justice system. These young individuals face challenges in education, health and the family setting. This is a complex issue. There are many layers to the problems, but there are also many layers to the solutions. Many children and young people who may enter into the youth justice systems usually respond pretty well to those diversion and rehabilitation services. They will mature and grow out of the offending and crime and get their life back on track.

I just wanted to talk a little bit about a Geelong region program that is absolutely amazing at diversion and supporting our young people who are at risk. It is called the Geelong Youth Engagement program. This program literally saves lives and transforms the lives of young people who are at risk. The CEO is a former Victoria Police officer who throughout his whole career was working with youth. He has created this wonderful program that takes young children who have been identified as disengaging from school or on the brink of engaging with the youth justice system. They give them an intensive year-long program to get them back on track – wraparound services – but they also get them healthy and well again in an active lifestyle sort of space. At the end of the program they take them on the Kokoda Track trek. It literally has transformed lives. I have spoken to a couple of those young people who have participated in that program, and they have all said it has turned their lives around and put them back on track, knowing that whatever negativity or obstacles may occur in their lives, they have got the resilience to overcome them now and have a mentor, someone supporting them and around them as they go forward in life. It is a fantastic program.

There is another thing locally in my electorate. Before I was the member, Lisa Neville was the Bellarine member, and she had created a group. I call it the bSafe group, but it was the Bellarine Community Safety Group. What that is is community representatives from each of the towns across the Bellarine come together directly with local police, and they are able to share their concerns. We talk to local police about what they are seeing and how we as a community can come together to really be in the space of preventing any crime in our area. I have continued this group, and it is absolutely wonderful to be able to have that direct line to local police and command. This group raises really important issues. I will just touch a little bit on these. Each town has unique challenges, so some have talked about road safety with police. They have talked about theft, mainly from cars, which the local police are telling us is very opportunistic. If people are not locking their cars, then unfortunately the opportunistic robber is taking things that are left in the car, and especially with tourism, down on the Bellarine we see a spike in that over the tourism season. E-scooters have been an issue for the bSafe group. What that has meant is that really proactive community initiatives have come out of this. We even had the local school put up posters around caravan parks over summer saying ‘Lock your car’ or ‘Lock your valuables’, and it is a really great message and education piece that the community are engaged in.

We also sometimes discuss the local crime data that comes out. Unfortunately in the Bellarine a lot of the crime data is related to domestic and family violence, and education is certainly a big part of that discussion. The police now are also so proactive in going out to community. They are doing scam awareness sessions, they are talking to local businesses and they are going to shopping centres. There has been a really dedicated approach by local police to go out into the community and be proactive. Talking about youth crime, they are also visiting kinders, schools and high schools in my area, which really develops that great relationship between students and police and sometimes families. I am really proud of this group. I really would like to say that I am really proud of not only that group but the local police in my electorate, and I am confident in saying that this initiative has made a difference in my electorate.

In conclusion, this is a really important bill for our state. A justice system really is designed to balance rehabilitation and accountability, but also we are there to protect the community. This reform aims to reduce offending. We do not want to see young people entering the youth justice system. We need them to have opportunities to turn their lives around. I commend this bill to the house.