A recent change in legislation has brought a heavier hand for crime with a particular focus on youth crime. 

In an effort to stop recidivist offences, it is now much harder for serious offenders to be granted bail. 

To dissuade encouraging crime, bragging via social media is now a criminal act. 

Surprisingly, until recently, it was difficult to restrict bail for young offenders who were at risk of reoffending. A Communities and Justice spokesperson confirms, “Recent changes to the Bail Act 2013 and Crimes Act 1900 were in response to persistently high crime rates in regional NSW and recent spikes in motor theft and break-and-enter offending.

“Changes to the Bail Act introduced a temporary additional bail test for all young people, aged 14 to 18, who are charged with committing certain motor vehicle theft or serious break and enter offences while on bail for offences of the same type.”

The bail test is only allowed to be applied by someone with relevant power, such as police, magistrates and judges. They will need a high degree of confidence that the young person may re-offend, “In these cases, the new temporary test provides that bail must not be granted unless the bail authority has a high degree of confidence the young person will not commit a serious indictable offence while they are on bail.”

Sharing misdeeds via social media can now attract an additional 2 years imprisonment for their crimes, “A new performance crime offence has also been introduced to the Crimes Act, which targets offenders of motor theft or break and enter offences who also share material to advertise their offending conduct.

“This type of ‘performance crime’ or ‘posting and boasting’ may encourage others, particularly young people, to engage in similar criminal behaviour.”

Police confirm “Young people are using social media to promote their activities. And that fuels the one-upmanship.”

These changes have been brought in across NSW, including Lismore. However, the Communities and Justice spokesperson says, “It is too early to say if anyone has been convicted of the new performance crime offence or comment on how the bail changes are operating.”

The NSW Government has a range of interventions and diversionary strategies that are used to address anti-social behaviour and youth crime. These include:

• The Youth on Track program, which provides case management, behaviour and family interventions to young people aged 10-17 who are at risk of long-term involvement in the criminal justice system. https://www.nsw.gov.au/legal-and-justice/youth-justice/youth-on-track/locations.
• Youth Justice Conferencing, which brings together a young person who has committed an offence, the victim, NSW Police and other relevant representatives to divert young people from the criminal justice system.
• The Bail Accommodation & Support Service, operated by Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW), which actively works to reduce the numbers of young people remanded on bail due to accommodation issues.
• There are also programs aimed towards Aboriginal young people, such as My Journey My Life and Dthina Yuwali.

A full list of all early intervention and diversion programs across NSW can be found here.

If members of the public want to report a crime, they can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or call 000 in an emergency.