Plans to introduce new 'post and boast' penalties in Victoria are a misguided political distraction that that will do nothing to reduce crime – and will instead push more young people deeper into the criminal justice system.
The changes introduced to Victoria's Parliament on Tuesday under the Crimes Amendment (Performance Crime) Bill, follow similar laws in New South Wales and Queensland, despite no evidence these measures are effective in deterring youth offending.
The Justice Reform Initiative's Executive Director Dr Mindy Sotiri said the Victorian Government had reverted to political posturing, missing the opportunity to engage fully with the evidence about what actually works to support community safety and prevent reoffending.
"Further punishing people for posting to social media fails to address the drivers of that behaviour and won't work as a deterrent. Introducing penalties for 'posting and boasting' sounds catchy and might work for political point-scoring in the short-term, but is not based in any evidence," Dr Sotiri said.
"Children and young people – who these penalties are intended to target – are still developing neurologically, and are still learning to weigh up the consequences of their actions before making decisions. Decades of evidence show us that threatening tougher penalties in this way will not work to prevent crime or keep the community safe. It instead achieves the opposite."
"All the evidence shows that the earlier children have interaction with the criminal justice system, the more likely they are to be cycling in and out of it for years to come. That's a bad result for children, for taxpayers and for community safety."
"We've seen this 'tough on crime' approach repeatedly fail in Queensland and contribute to rapidly rising prison numbers in NSW. Rather than trying to outdo other jurisdictions with even harsher laws, Victoria needs to take a smarter approach that meaningfully invests in evidence-based responses to crime that genuinely disrupt its reoccurrence."
Victoria's correctional system is already under mounting strain. Since recent changes to bail laws, the adult remand population and the number of children on remand has risen by 22% and 71% respectively in the past year alone.
The Justice Reform Initiative is calling for urgent investment in early intervention, support services, and proven community-based programs – rather than doubling down on punitive policies that fail to address the root causes of crime.
"It is not about excusing crime or minimising its impact but simply ensuring children have access to the right support within their community when they go off track to address the drivers of crime and break the cycle of incarceration," Dr Sotiri said.
"Adding additional penalties for posting to social media will serve to net-widen and increase the number of children involved with the criminal justice system. Instead, the Government needs to work together with the many proven programs and services run by the community sector that provide those 'off-ramps' out of the justice system and that intervene earlier – long before the point of social media content.
"We urge the Victorian Government to shift their focus to ensure all children – and adults – can receive effective support and opportunity in the community rather than being 'managed' in the justice system time and again at the expense of taxpayers, and community safety."
