The NSW government has committed about $1.5 million towards Bourke's Maranguka Community Hub under efforts to tackle youth crime in the regions.

The money will continue the hub's Justice Reinvestment Project until mid-2029 under the Stronger Places, Stronger People (SPSP) program and is aimed at cutting the rate of Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system.

The 12 February announcement follows renewed public scrutiny on the topic after a deadly police chase near Gunnedah last month.

"It'll certainly continue the work that we've been doing to strive for better outcomes," hub founder and Executive Director Alistair Ferguson said. "I think it's really important to know how we're measuring the impact and the evidence and the case studies that will develop."

In 2019, the hub received $1.8 million in joint federal-state funding for five years under the SPSP until 2024.

The new funds are part of $4 million for existing SPSP programs in Bourke and Kempsey.

A NSW government spokesperson said early evidence since 2019 showed reduced crime rates in Bourke following the investment, along with "improved social, economic, health and cultural outcomes."

The Bourke shire typically has higher serious crime rates than the NSW average. IMAGE: New Matilda/ Flickr

"Maranguka in Bourke is a nationally recognised example of how a place-based approach can empower communities to make decisions and develop its own strategies to address local needs," the spokesperson said.

"The initiative leans on the strengths and knowledge of local communities to maximise positive outcomes in youth engagement and reduced offending, family safety, early childhood and other areas.

"This team facilitates local planning, inclusive engagement, measurement and evaluation, joint decision-making, governance, and local action.

"The team works with, and is accountable to, a local community leadership group, supporting the community in developing and implementing their tailored strategy and plan of action."

The Western Plains App understands that the federal Department of Social Services plans to undertake an evaluation of SPSP programs.

Reports of theft and assault offences generally rose in the Bourke postcode over the five years to September 2024, according to the NSW Bureau of Statistics and Research.

For example, break and enters into dwellings rose an average 37.7 per cent in each 12-month period from 47 incidents in the first to 159 in the fifth.

Assault reports also rose by 6.3 per cent each year over the same five-year period, while motor vehicle theft rose by 10.3 per cent each year.

Barwon MP Roy Butler welcomed the new money, but said there needs to be reporting on how the service is benefiting the community.

"One of the problems we've got with funded service delivery in some of our communities - with some of those service providers - is that there isn't actually reporting," Mr Butler said.

"For public money, there needs to be public value and there needs to be accountability for how those funds are spent."

"The great news is, I suppose, that there's been an acknowledgement that the best solutions often come from communities rather than picking something up out of Sydney."

 Premier acknowledges local knowledge

“We know that what works in the middle of Sydney won’t work for our regional communities," NSW premier Chris Minns said.

"Which is why we are making this long-term investment to ensure local knowledge informs the action we take to address local issues.

“We know there is no easy solution to address the issue of crime in our regional communities, but that is why we are pulling every lever possible from law reform to investing in local organisations."

The government has been under renewed community pressure to explain its efforts to tackle youth crime after three 14-year-olds were arrested in late January over a crash that killed a motorcyclist.

Police allege the boys stole a ute from a home in Moree, which on the same morning collided with the man in his 50s on the outskirts of Gunnedah.

The man died at the scene and the boys were refused bail.

The government has since announced another $2 million to tackle youth crime in Moree- following $13.4 million towards the same issue in April 2024.

NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders said the government should share the love.

“Youth crime isn’t just a Moree problem, it’s a regional NSW problem. It’s gripping every corner of every rural and remote community,” Mr Saunders said on 7 February.

“While the Premier is too busy sending all of his attention and resources in one direction, places like Bourke, Dubbo, Casino, Tamworth, Orange, Bathurst, Kempsey and Gunnedah haven’t had any support and they are screaming for help.”

The Labor government also extended its temporary youth bail laws from an initial 12 months to four years, which Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson criticised.

"The Minns Labor Government’s response is wrongly based on the further criminalisation of young people through police-led operations, over policing, the refusal of bail and incarceration, further entrenching cycles of criminality which undermines all of the community's good work," Ms Higginson said.

"The changes were not designed to reduce crime, they were only designed to make the Government appear tough on crime."