The Justice Reform Initiative welcomes the news of the establishment of a new NSW Select Committee on Youth Justice — a significant step toward addressing the underlying drivers of youth offending and strengthening community safety across the state.
The motion, carried with cross-party support, was introduced by the Shadow Minister for Youth Justice the Hon. Aileen MacDonald MLC, who will serve as Chair of the committee. The committee will examine the full landscape of youth justice in NSW: the causes of children's contact with the criminal justice system, the effectiveness of diversion and early intervention, the over-incarceration of Aboriginal children, the growing cohort of children held on remand, and the evidence about what truly works to reduce offending.
Justice Reform Initiative Executive Director Dr Mindy Sotiri said the committee comes at a critical moment, with the number of children in prison surging and increasing concern about the failures of the current approach to incarceration to address the drivers of crime.
"We commend the Hon. Aileen MacDonald for her leadership and for articulating so clearly both the scale of the crisis and the importance of looking at what the evidence says will actually make a difference to build community safety. We also want to applaud the Minister for Youth Justice, the Hon. Jihad Dib and the Government for their support for the inquiry as well as the Greens and others on the cross bench," Dr Sotiri said.
The Hon. Aileen Macdonald highlighted that youth detention in NSW has risen by 34% in just two years and noted that more than 70% of children in custody are unsentenced, and almost 60% are Aboriginal.
"This select committee is a deeply welcome step. It represents a genuine opportunity for NSW to lead the country in evidence-based, cross party supported, community-focused youth justice reform," Dr Sotiri said.
Dr Sotiri said the committee's wide-ranging terms of reference — spanning school disengagement, homelessness, disability, mental health, alcohol and other drugs, intergenerational trauma, alternatives to remand, community-led responses, international best practice, and long-term impacts on children and families — reflect the breadth and depth of change required.
The announcement follows the NSW Government's recent commitment of $23 million for bail supervision, intensive case management and early intervention in regional communities. Dr Sotiri said this investment is an encouraging shift toward preventative, community-based supports but must be built out with substantial further state-wide investment if NSW is serious about reducing crime.
"We are currently spending over $223 million on locking children up in NSW, and we know that this approach is failing. It doesn't address the drivers of crime; it doesn't deter children from committing crime; it increases the likelihood of children going on to reoffend and it causes enormous harm. This select committee can shine a necessary light on these systemic failures and help build a system that actually turns lives around and keeps communities safe."
Justice Reform Initiative Chair Robert Tickner praised the cross-party commitment to establishing the inquiry.
"This is an inspiring example to the rest of the country of parliamentarians putting political point scoring aside and working cooperatively in the public interest," Mr Tickner said. "NSW now has the chance to become a national leader in evidence-based, humane and effective youth justice reform. We strongly encourage all parties and Independents in the lower house to also collaborate to seize this moment."
Mrs MacDonald's remarks in Parliament underscored the urgency: "This is not about being soft on crime. It is about being effective on crime. Every offence prevented is one fewer victim. Every young person we turn away from a lifetime of offending is one fewer adult in our prisons and one more citizen contributing to their community."
Dr Sotiri said the Justice Reform Initiative supports the committee's commitment to hearing from Aboriginal communities, children and young people with lived experience, service providers, the judiciary, police and frontline organisations.
"Children should be accountable for their actions — but accountability must mean reducing the risk of harm happening again," Dr Sotiri said. "This is a crucial opportunity to finally move beyond political slogans and into evidence-based action that genuinely improves community safety."
