The Australian Federal Police's (AFP) warning of radicalisation among children has prompted advocates to call for community-led support over punitive laws and imprisonment.

This week, Acting AFP Deputy Commissioner Sandra Booth told a parliamentary inquiry that Australia is is facing a "tsunami of youth crime", with the radicalisation of young people now happening "within days" instead of years.

She told the joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security (JPCIS) that counter-terrorism authorities have targeted 65 children aged between 12 and 17 since 2020.

Thirty-five of those investigations resulted in charges, the hearings heard.

In a statement, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) Executive Director, Nick Espie, said governments have a responsibility to stop radicalisation and crime before it happens.

Governments across the country must invest in community-led support that connects children with their communities, prevents cycles of crime and ultimately makes communities safer, he said.

"When warnings are met with ill-informed, knee-jerk responses such as punitive law reform that doesn't address the root causes of crime and radicalisation, we are left with poor policy decisions that don't make communities safe," Mr Espie argued.

"Punitive responses will often impact vulnerable members of the community — including Aboriginal children."

Legal, human rights and Indigenous groups have long called for systemic reform, arguing punitive punishments fail children and families while making communities less safe.

The recently concluded Senate inquiry into youth justice found "current media coverage suggests that crime by children and young people in Australia is on the rise".

"However, other statistics show a decrease in youth crime, suggesting there is no 'youth justice crisis' in Australia," it found.

Deputy Commissioner Booth told the JPCIS this week that children were being turned from victims into predators.

"For example, youth are recording or live streaming animal crushing, physically or sexually assaulting their siblings to escape the hold their blackmailers have over them," she said.

"They think if they do what they are being asked, they will no longer be targeted".

Mr Espie said Aboriginal and community-controlled organisations are best placed to keep children connected to their communities and to Culture.

"Punitive approaches that throw children in jail will make communities less safe and will perpetuate cycles of disadvantage," he said.

"The Prime Minister must step up and ensure that state and territory governments respond to this warning with a community-led approach that prioritises diversion, not the incarceration of our children. This can also be achieved through the development of national minimum standards for youth justice."