One week after the NSW Government announced a suite of new policies to address regional crime, one change in particular has come under fire, as over 500 stakeholders signed a letter to the Premier condemning the proposed amendments to bail laws. 

In an open letter undersigned by 60 legal organisations and 500 justice professionals, NSW Premier Chris Minns is urged not to ‘turn his back’ on Closing the Gap. 

The call follows a plan to change bail laws that will tighten the test for bail for teenagers in the hopes to reduce reoffending. 

The response has since been mixed, and while some aspects have been praised, the bail laws are seemingly the most contentious, with fears that the denial of bail will only ‘enmesh’ youth in the criminal justice system. 

Amongst the coalition of Aboriginal and legal organisations who are campaigning against the bail amendments is CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT Kelly Warner. 

“Changes to bail laws that lock more children up is a short-term political stunt that won’t fix a thing on the ground in communities,” Ms Warner said. 

“You don’t make communities safer by locking up children. Tightening bail laws to keep children locked up hasn’t worked in a single place it’s been tried. You only have to look at what’s happening in Queensland to see that it will be an unmitigated disaster.”

Queensland currently has the strictest youth bail laws in the country as a result of youth crime, as well as the punishment for ‘posting and boasting’ NSW is introducing. 

NSW Greens Spokesperson for First Nations Justice Sue Higginson said that the laws will also see First Nations children make up the majority of the increase of children in prison, condemning the amendment as a ‘racist intervention’. 

“61.5% of young people in youth custody are First Nations young people, and 100% of young people who were on remand after being refused bail by the police are First Nations children,” Ms Higginson said. 

What instead?

While experts are vehemently against the new bail tests, a recurring issue raised across regional NSW is a need to address repeat offending against young people. 

The group of justice professionals proposed alternative solutions that they said are being ignored. 

Their three point youth crime prevention plan includes allocating resources for after-hours support and activities to engage at-risk young people, intensive and targeted programs and responses with appropriate referral services, and formal community partnerships between police and Aboriginal controlled services. 

“Regional communities should be furious that the government is not prepared to invest in services that will make them safer,” Ms Warner said. 

Elements of this plan will be incorporated to regional NSW as part of the new NSW Government plan, particularly in Moree which will serve as a pilot for the plan due to staggeringly high youth crime rates. 

While these plans have been welcomed, there are concerns that the new bail laws will undermine their success. 

Meanwhile, the Country Mayors Association (CMA), who originally called for an inquiry into regional crime, support the changes, asking for the reforms to be implemented as soon as possible, while still calling for an inquiry to take place. 

“The Bureau of Crime Statistics shows regional crime is a problem across the board – not just in youth crime, but in sexual assault, domestic assault and breaches of AVOs. None of these new initiatives address inequity in any area other than youth crime, which is only part of the problem,” CMA Chair Jamie Chaffey said.