The community fed up with youth crime — and the warnings against 'reckless' solutions.

 Extract from ABC News

Q+A

• By Jason Whittaker

2 hours ago

Q+A: Can we arrest our way out of youth crime?

In short:

Residents of Melbourne's outer south-east tell Q+A they're in fear of a rise in crimes committed by young people.

Local MP Julian Hill says the data is a "mixed story" and worries about young people in the community being stigmatised.

What's next?

The Victorian government has a youth justice bill before parliament to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12.

Link copied

Jamel Kaur Singh was overseas when her car was quietly driven out of her garage in Melbourne's outer south-east.

"Young kids broke into the house and took all the keys for the cars and decided my Mercedes was a good one to take away with them," she said.

"These areas are constantly being targeted by youth crime. Shop owners are in fear."

Jamel was not the only one at Dandenong's Drum Theatre on Monday night concerned about crime — the ABC's Q+A was inundated with questions on a topic that's been running hot in local media and in many communities around the country.

But Q+A also heard pleas from one local politician about "stigmatising my community" and from a local youth worker worried about the impact of so many negative headlines.

And there were warnings from advocates and lawyers that a "tough on crime" approach would only fuel more crime.

Jamel — an educator, consultant and mother of two living in Eumemmerring — is standing as an independent in City of Casey council elections, so concerned is she by crime in the community.

She asked: "Why are parents not being held accountable for their kids' actions? Why are kids not being taught consequences?"

Suzy Baddock, another long-time local, said it's time to get tough.

"There is always an excuse for it," she said.

"When are governments and the authorities going to stop the excuse-making for law breakers and start imposing serious consequences for actions?"

Youth crime in Victoria jumped 30 per cent year-on-year in annual data released in March.

"Victoria is largely a very safe state but we have got significant issues with child offending," Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told the ABC then, citing social media and the quest for notoriety as one cause.

In Greater Dandenong, offending rates were up 32 per cent among kids aged 10 to 17 — but down 25 per cent in the 18-24 cohort.

Q+A: Looking into root issues behind youth crime

Solutions can't be 'reckless'

Nyadol Nyuon, a Melbourne-based advocate and lawyer, agreed social media was fuelling offending, but so was mainstream media.

"When they emphasise, overemphasise criminal activities … it contributes to this idea that there is some sort of attention that you can get from this behaviour," she told Q+A.

Ms Nyuon, who has worked with government on crime prevention and youth justice, said "we can't be proposing solutions that are in themselves reckless".

"Especially for communities like this, communities where there are problems with inequality … we're often so willing to understand how these things affect older people … but when it comes to young people, somehow we don't connect [them]," she said.

"There must be systemic responses … there must be investment in our schools and rehabilitation processes.

"As much as we have to balance that role of holding young people accountable, we have to balance it with the role of looking after them and finding solutions for them."

Ms Nyuon also wants the age of criminal responsibility raised. The Victoria government is legislating to raise the age from 10 to 12, but has walked away from a promise to make it 14.

"We are fighting biology," she said.

"Being tough on crime against nine-year-olds, it's fighting biology and not fighting crime."

Federal Labor MP Julian Hill, whose electorate of Bruce is in Melbourne's south-east, said he supported state government moves to toughen bail laws.

But he also advocated for early intervention, "trying to find out what the problem is".

"It's a mixed story," the assistant minister for citizenship and multicultural affairs told Q+A.

"The number of unique offenders hasn't changed. We've got a small cohort of those unique offenders, youth criminals, who are committing crimes over and over again.

"This is not about stigmatising my community."

Atifa Ahmed told Q+A the media should balance crime coverage by spotlighting achievement. (ABC)

Spotlight on youth achievement

Atifa Ahmed, who works with the Greater Dandenong Council engaging families and young people, is sick of the "terrible headlines out there saying young teens are out of control".

"If we want young people to do amazing things we need to show them they can do amazing things," she said.

"We need to put them in the spotlight and put the amazing things they're doing in the spotlight.

"You don't see the good things young people are doing making it to national news. It's overshadowed by all these negative stereotypes."

Stay in the know

Photo shows Q&A logo with the text Sign up to the Q&A newsletter

The big issues that have Australians thinking, talking and debating, straight to your inbox. 

Jon Faine, a long-time former ABC Melbourne broadcaster, challenged the media to tell more positive stories.

"It's really easy to make people afraid. So the challenge is to work harder on hope in order to swamp fear," he said.

Ms Nyuon told Q+A there are wider engagement issues. She said young people have "lost trust in institutions" and feel let down on issues like climate change.

"It is not enough to ask young people to be hopeful when the solutions that are being presented for them about their future are in themselves not imaginative or a response to their needs," she said.

And she said young Australians from minority groups are particularly at risk.

"Any time I hear there's a crime that's occurred, my prayer is I hope it's not a black kid," she said.

"And the reason I do that is because the next day all of us are criminal.

"I'm not at all trying to discount what it must feel like to feel unsafe. I am trying to wrestle, as we must as adults, with all the perspective and all the context we need to bring to a question."

Local Suzy Baddock heard the arguments but insisted kids don't feel the consequences of their actions like they should.

"There is always an excuse for it, rather than saying 'this is not appropriate', you should understand that and there is a consequence for that," she said.

Watch the full episode of Q+A on ABC iview. Follow Q+A on YouTube and Facebook.