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Community-led plan launched to steer NSW children away from detention
A new strategy aimed at diverting children away from the justice system and towa...
Dechlan Brennan 16 Apr 2026
Fitzroy Crossing junior footy drives crime decline, opens new pathways
The birth of a junior football league in a remote Aboriginal town in Western Aus...
Natasha Clark 4 Mar 2026
Victorian Parliament passes youth justice laws allowing life sentences for children despite human rights concerns
Controversial youth justice reforms that allow children to be sentenced to life...
Dechlan Brennan 4 Dec 2025
Experts dismayed as Victorian children set to be tried as adults under tough new crime laws
Youth justice advocates have expressed outrage over the Victorian Government's d...
Dechlan Brennan 12 Nov 2025
Substantial drop in youth crime prompts WA's top judges to tour Fitzroy Crossing’s Night Space
When WA Children's Court President Hylton Quail noticed youth crime falling in F...
Natasha Clark 28 Oct 2025
Indigenous legal groups warn SA ‘Street Gangs Bill’ could criminalise children for life

Indigenous legal services have raised alarm over new legislation before South Australia's parliament, warning it risks trapping children in the justice system for life.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Sep 16, 2025
Peak body says tough new legislation will "only increase crime"

The passing of legislation that will see children as young as ten spend their life in prison for some crimes will only make communities less safe, the peak body for Indigenous community-controlled leg...

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Dec 16, 2024
Controversial youth justice changes, which will see children sentenced as adults, passes Queensland parliament

The Queensland government has defied human rights, Indigenous and legal experts to pass a series of punitive laws which, by their own admission, will see more children incarcerated.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Dec 12, 2024
Labor won't oppose 'adult crime, adult time,' Miles says

Queensland Labor leader Steven Miles says he doesn't expect Labor to oppose new Premier David Crisafulli's 'adult crime, adult time' laws. It comes as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social...

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Oct 28, 2024
Experts warn 'Declan's Law' won't make NT community safer

The Northern Territory government has announced they will introduce legislation next week to criminalise breaches of bail for children as well as expanding the presumption against bail to include yout...

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Oct 7, 2024
Child Commissioner says media coverage of youth crime is creating more fear

The National Child Commissioner says media coverage on youth crime is "creating more and more fear". Appearing on ABC RN, Anne Hollonds, who will address the National Press Club on Wednesday, said whe...

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Oct 2, 2024
NT's youth crime crackdown 'locking up a generation'

A planned crackdown on youth crime by the new Northern Territory government has stirred controversy but the voices at the centre of the debate are missing.

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(A)manda Parkinson Aug 31, 2024
NT Justice Agency urges new Territory government to not play politics with children's lives

The Northern Territory's largest Indigenous legal organisation has become the latest group to criticise the new government's plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Aug 28, 2024
Stop politicising youth offending and invest in support programs, NT Aboriginal justice agency says ahead of Territory election

The Northern Territory's largest Indigenous legal organisation says whichever party wins the upcoming election needs to prioritise diversionary options in order to reduce the NT's reliance on prisons.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Aug 15, 2024
Legal groups deeply concerned by Vic backdown on raising the age of criminal responsibility

The Victorian government's controversial decision to backtrack on their promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 continues to attract criticism.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Aug 15, 2024
Indigenous people over represented in NSW youth crime data

Young children appearing in NSW courts are overwhelmingly from disadvantaged backgrounds and often Indigenous, new data shows, as debate swirls about raising the age of criminal responsibility.

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Alex Mitchell Aug 14, 2024
"Fear mongering" does nothing to make the community safer, Victoria's Aboriginal Legal Service warns

Victoria's leading Indigenous legal organisation has criticised the Victorian police for spreading fear around youth crime as the state prepares to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Jul 23, 2024
Queensland LNP's plan to treat children like adults in criminal justice system slammed

The Queensland opposition has been criticised for pledging to sentence many youth criminals as adults, with human rights and advocacy arguing it would only make the community less safe.

Dechlan Brennan Dechlan Brennan Jul 8, 2024
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National Indigenous Times

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