Victoria Labor's pre-election commitment to see youth offenders pulled from the community and placed in a "tough love" rehabilitation program is mandatory sentencing dressed up as political leadership, critics say.
On Sunday, Premier Ben Carroll — whose government has faced repeated accusations of being weak on crime despite introducing numerous "punitive" bail and youth offender policies — said the proposed $204 million scheme would involve placing young offenders into intensive rehabilitation for up to 12 months.
"This is tough love," said Mr Carroll.
"We won't give up on young people, but we won't give them a free pass either."
The offenders will be placed in secure residential youth justice facilities under new "mandatory therapeutic orders", which will require them to attend courses, including drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
The orders will target young offenders involved in theft, vandalism, property damage and minor assaults, particularly those experiencing drug or alcohol dependency or mental health challenges.
As part of the program, participants will be required to develop essential life skills, including cooking, cleaning and budgeting. The rehabilitation program will be mandated through a court order rather than offered on a voluntary basis.
Mr Carroll argued that "too many" youth offenders were getting "slap on the wrist" or spending a short time in detention, which is "not enough time to address their behaviour".
"We can't let today's vandals and thieves become tomorrow's violent youths."
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With crime likely to be a key factor in the election, Mr Carroll has attempted to position himself as a 'tough on crime' premier, even as his party lags in the polls.
However, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Nerita Waight said his latest policy is "mandatory sentencing dressed up as political leadership," with "vulnerable young people paying the price".
"When it comes to vulnerable young people, the major parties seem to have only two election promises: lock them up or shut them out of their communities," Ms Waight said.
"Cells and silence are no substitute for leadership, compassion and meaningful reform."
Negar Panahi, the principal lawyer at VALS' youth justice service, Balit Ngulu, agreed.
"It doesn't matter what you call it, youth justice detention or compulsory rehabilitation; if you're locked up and away from the community in a prison facility, it is prison," she said. "This is a desperate attempt to win votes at the cost of criminalising children more aggressively than adults."
Victoria's crime rate has fallen over the past year, according to the state's statistics agency, but police say 10- to 17-year-olds remain heavily over-represented in serious violent crimes.
Director of First Nations Justice at the Human Rights Law Centre, Maggie Munn, argued that the "punitive" policies pushed by both major parties don't improve community safety.
"If the Carroll Government truly cares about rehabilitation, they would invest in housing and community-based supports that address the real needs that bring children into contact with the criminal legal system in the first place," they said.
According to the Productivity Commission, 67 per cent of children released from detention in Victoria returned to sentenced supervision within 12 months.
The Justice Reform Initiative warned that Labor's announcement would only push more children into a youth detention system that has never delivered on its promise of rehabilitation.
Executive Director Mindy Sotiri said the evidence was clear that prisons across the country have "never been rehabilitative".
"Nobody disputes the fact that the children who come into contact with the justice system are also the children who need the most intensive support, and the Government is right that many of them are not getting it," she said.
"But the answer is to invest in that support in the community, where the evidence shows it is most effective, at a fraction of the cost of detention."
With AAP
