Legal and community experts warn NSW Opposition bill to put more children in prison will increase crime

Giovanni Torre Published August 7, 2025 at 12.10pm (AWST)

news

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman in parliament. Image: Nikki Short (AAP).

An alliance of legal and community experts say a Coalition bill calling for tougher child bail laws will backfire and increase crime.

The organisations - including the NSW/ACT Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of NSW, AbSec - NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation, the First Peoples Disability Network, NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, and the Redfern Legal Centre - warned in a joint statement on Thursday that the Bill will "make communities more dangerous".

The NSW Coalition has tabled legislation which proposes to deny bail to exponentially more children; including those accused of shoplifting and other forms of 'survival crime'. The bill would also mandate electronic monitoring for children as young as 14 and prohibit courts from granting bail again if police decide to lay more charges, even if they can't be proven.

The alliance of legal and community groups, listed below, said "child prisons are an express training program for a life of crime and suffering".

"Throwing more children in jail is compounding disadvantage and trauma, leading to horrific outcomes for communities," they said.

"The evidence is crystal clear that locking a child up makes them dramatically more likely to offend and return to prison in the future.

"Locking kids up has never worked, anywhere."

The NSW Coalition bill is in line with similar measures introduced by the LNP and CLP governments in Queensland and the Northern Territory which are already driving up incarceration numbers.

The alliance noted that legal and crime experts have called for "an evidence-based plan to strengthen communities and prevent crime in the first place", including: Long-term and sustainable funding for community services that prevent crime and ensure children and families thrive; strengthening diversion programs and investment in community-led alternatives to criminal justice responses, like alternative responders; and the building of "meaningful partnerships between communities, police and other justice stakeholders to respond to local needs and keep all members of our communities safe".

The joint statement was signed by:

Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited

Aboriginal Health & Medical Research Council of NSW (AH&MRC)

AbSec - NSW Child, Family and Community Peak Aboriginal Corporation

First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN)

Link-Up NSW

NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG)

Justice and Equity Centre

The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre

Redfern Legal Centre

Justice Reform Initiative

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights