Youth crime is a double edged sword. Many people believe that detention of children aged 10-14 years should not happen, whilst people who have been victim to these children have a lived experience with a very different view.
If elected I would push for changes to the Commonwealth Crimes Act that would make it a specific offence to profit from a crime committed by a child.
At the moment, crime gangs/organisations know that a child committing crime is not going to probably go to prison. These criminals don’t care about the impact on the child, the child’s family or the child’s community. People profiting from the child’s crime will be sent to prison/detention.
I would attach a mandatory prison sentence for adults of 4 years for the first offence and then +4 years for each subsequent offence.
For juvenile offenders aged 17-18 years a mandatory detention period of 1 year for the first offence and +1 year for every subsequent offence.
For juvenile offenders aged 15-16 years a mandatory detention period of six months for the first offence and +6 months for every subsequent offence.
I would apply a tough threshold for the courts to exempt someone from the mandatory sentencing requirements.
Where offending is hidden behind a company, then the company would face a mandatory fine of $5 million and +$5 million for each subsequent offence. The owner/operator/director of the company would also be liable for the fine and courts could seize assets including family homes, trusts and transferred assets to recover the liability.
We need to stop youth crime at the source – not at the location of the crime.
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