The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (22:11): I bring to the attention of the House the Government's apparent lack of activity in the youth justice space. When the Government introduced tougher youth justice bail laws, the Opposition supported those. We provided that support in the context of Labor's commitment, in the lead‑up to the March 2023 election, to explore initiatives to reduce the interactions between young people and the justice system, but we have barely seen or heard anything in that area. The Government likes to point to the success of the Youth on Track program as an example of a successful initiative, but I remind the House that it was the Coalition that introduced that early intervention scheme in 2013 to support 10- to 17-year-olds who were at risk of long-term involvement in the criminal justice system. It is time the Government stopped riding on the Coalition's coat-tails and comes to the table with its own policy to make a difference as it promised.

It has now been seven months since the tougher bail laws were introduced following a regional crime spree. It is time to ask, "Where is the follow-up?" We are placing troubled youth in a situation which is more likely to have them stay in the criminal justice system rather than providing programs to keep them out of it. As Father Chris Riley once said to me, "Kids are not born bad." Anyone who knows me knows that in a previous life I was a community corrections officer and I have always been passionate about keeping young people out of jail. Locking up young people and children without providing appropriate community and family-based programs to break the cycle of offending is only a short-term solution.

This Government has been found lacking when it comes to early intervention and diversionary programs. Instead of waiting for young people to end up in a jail cell, we should be looking at the root causes of offending. Whether it is poverty, substance abuse, mental health issues or other challenges, children facing or surrounded by those challenges are more likely to become involved in criminal behaviour.

One only has to read National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollands' report'Help way earlier!': How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing to understand what I am talking about. It is heartbreaking to read. When the current cost-of-living pressures are added, all of those factors become even more acute. Let us address the elephant in the room: The factors disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.

It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. Let us have a look at what we can do to help that village. Surely it is time for the Government to come good on its promise and do more to separate meaningful treatment from the easy option of punishment. Allow me to share some salient Youth on Track statistics from the 2022 report by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research: Sixty-two per cent of participants reduced their risk of reoffending after three months in the program; 79 per cent of participants reduced their risk of reoffending after six months in the program; and 100 per cent of participants reduced their risk of reoffending after completing the program.

I do not want my neighbours in country towns feeling unsafe, nor do I want them to think that young offenders get a slap on the wrist, then go out and offend again. But I do want my neighbours to think there is a solution, and I believe that solutions are out there. This Government needs to come good on the commitment it made over a year ago to support and expand the incredible work that Youth Justice does. Corrections officers and Youth Justice officers in New South Wales do wonderful work. It is work that makes a difference and that our community benefits greatly from. The Government should not forget that it made a commitment to support that essential work.