A near-fatal attack on a 14-year-old boy while walking home from Glen Eira College in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield last year is the inspiration behind calls for tougher penalties against youth offenders.
Benjamin was set upon by a group of teens when he was with his friends last September, and was left with permanent brain damage from the ambush.
The teens dragged him into their stolen car, before he was thrown from the travelling vehicle.
His devastated mother said the justice system failed her, her family, and the community after one of the teenage attackers was spared jail.
Almost one year on, David Southwick, deputy leader of the Victorian Liberals, received a letter from a concerned parent with two children at Glen Eira College, and one at Caulfield Primary School.
The parent wrote about extreme disappointment that one of the offenders had a string of charges and previous offences, but was not put behind bars.
Incidents like these are driving stakeholders and the opposition to pressure the Allan Labor government and provide stronger deterrents to serious youth offenders.
“I’m a big fan of having early intervention programs to stop people from living a life of crime, particularly things that are violent, serious, and premeditated,” Southwick told The Epoch Times.
“There needs to be proper consequences.”
The magistrate for this case said a section of the Glen Eira City Council community had been living in fear since the attack, and they were sick of this behaviour.
“But I can’t lock him up. It’s not going to give any solace to the victims, but he’s doing his best to stay out of trouble,” the magistrate said during sentencing.
The offender has been placed on a supervision order without a conviction.
On Oct. 10, 2023, the attacker was granted bail. In June, he struck a plea deal where his more serious charges were dropped, including intentionally causing serious injury and reckless conduct.
Southwick said he will continue to advocate for stronger consequences for these violent-crime offenders because of the subsequent fear they spread throughout entire communities.
“The consequences of that type of serious crime where people are left with brain injuries—indirectly the whole school is affected, families are affected, other kids who go to that school are affected,” he said.
“So, one serious attack can have ramifications right through the community.”
Southwick also criticised the Allan government’s plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 by the end of this year, which might not become law until early 2025.
The government eventually wants to raise that age to 14, with exceptions for serious crimes such as homicide or rape.
“I think it should be an approach of if you commit an adult crime, you do adult time,” Southwick said.
How to Stop Victoria’s Rising Youth Crime Trend
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows only the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia have a lower youth offender rate than Victoria.There were 8,175 offenders aged between 10 and 17 in Victoria in 2022-23, an increase of 16 percent.
It has also been reported that Victoria Police was monitoring 47 youth gangs across the state last year.
A big reason for the rise in crime has been blamed on a need for status and belonging—particularly in the age of social media.
Many film themselves robbing cars and speeding away to get “likes” and reactions online, said Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Martin Bourke.
“Peer pressure is probably a big part of it. If these kids are disengaged from school, society, and sports, this is something they find a connection with. It’s not right,” he told The Epoch Times.
“It’s a really unfortunate situation we’re in, and the … community needs to work together.”
Bourke said an increased presence of police engaging in talks and seminars with students was stemming some crime, but bullying and peer pressure could lead to more violent offences.
Schools Need to Stick to the Basics, Says Babet
Meanwhile, conservative lawmakers are arguing that a spike in the emphasis on racial, gender, and cultural ideology taught in educational institutions was contributing to a growing sense of entitlement.This only leads to more widespread fear, anger, and loss of identity, which has a negative flow-on on employment numbers and crime rates, said United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet.
“I think when kids go to school they should be taught the basics—reading, writing, and arithmetic,” he told The Epoch Times.
“Kids these days don’t even know how to pay their taxes—how about we focus on that, instead of telling them or teaching them that there are more than two genders?”
Southwick follows a similar line of thinking, pointing out many Australian schools are not identifying the right career paths for kids to follow.
“We don’t teach basics and life skills. We don’t give kids the kinds of opportunities to be able to look at creating their own broader pathways,” he said.
Taking the Fear Out of Reforming Youths: Community Worker
An expert in youth work and a community services mentor said the worst thing any supervisor could do with repeat petty-crime youth offenders was continually tell them what they can and cannot do.Shayne Hood is the director of Wounds and Wisdom and co-owner of 16 Yards, and he focuses on a holistic approach to changing a person’s character.
That might include sitting down with a repeat car stealer and detailing why they broke into the vehicle, finding that most offenders already knew what they were doing was wrong.
Hood said many minors who steal cars do it for status. If they can drive away in a fast, expensive car, it makes them feel good—this feeling is amplified if they get a lot of likes and reactions on social media.
While not condoning the behaviour, Hood can source the right work placement for offenders, and put them in a supportive environment where they can utilise their skills and make money legally.
“We hit them with their motivators. If they want money and entrepreneurial work, that’s what we want to lead them towards,” Hood told The Epoch Times.
“We get them into consultancy work, where they get paid consultancy dollars to do good things in their community.”
Hood has worked with many minor criminals who have turned their lives around and he is excited at the effect this could have in preventing future youth offences from occurring.
“We’ve got a whole team of guys working, studying, guys doing their Bachelors who are from tough areas who have completely disconnected from crime,” he said.
