$23m in state government funding to tackle regional NSW youth crime

In an effort to reduce youth crime, the NSW state government has announced a further $23 million in funding for programs targeting at-risk youth. The funding will provide wraparound therapeutic services, with $12 million to go to Moree, Tamworth and Kempsey to work with local communities to find and develop services that help youth already engaged or at risk of engaging in crime. A further $6 million will go towards intensive bail supervision and support, including new caseworkers and Moree-based bail accommodation. An additional $8.75 million had also previously been announced for bail accommodation and support services for Moree. Police Minister Yasmin Catley has been travelling across the New England North West region this week to meet with councils, organisations and residents. She said she wanted everyone to feel as safe as possible. "The one thing that communities are saying in local towns is that we need to have place-based solutions. "There is no silver bullet … so we're best to have those place-based solutions that are actually addressing the situation in each and every town." Premier Chris Minns said bail accommodation announced in Moree about 18 months ago had been a long time coming, with a lease signed in the past 24 hours. "What it does is offer an opportunity for magistrates who might be erring on the side of granting bail, even in the context of five, six, seven repeat offences for the same offence, to say this is an intervention we can make," he said. "It may not be for the full time but it's the kind of intervention that sees a child not return to an unsafe house where we know what the outcome's going to be." Mr Minns said the accommodation would only house a small number of kids. "It's single digits, it's not a massive accommodation … it's not some sort of Oliver Twist-type fantasy, it's small, it's focused," he said. Mr Minns agreed that there was no simple solution for youth crime. Youth crime main priority The New England North West Region records some of the highest rates of youth crime in NSW, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR). With 587.7 offences per 10,000 young people, it sits behind only Far West and Orana (668.9), and Sydney's City and Inner South (970). Rates of youth offending in NSW have been declining since a COVID-era spike three years ago, but the drop is bigger in Sydney than in the bush. NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has been travelling with Ms Catley. He commenced his commissionership five weeks ago and has visited regional areas twice in that time. Commissioner Lanyon said the latest funding would make a significant difference. "If there is no therapeutic programs, no places for children to actually receive programs that can change them from that career of crime, we know they're going to stay in the criminal justice system," he said. Commissioner Lanyon said crime had been a key priority in every town he had visited. "I think what's really important is that we have an actual picture of crime as opposed to just a perception," he said, "There's no doubt when we have some of these serious violent offences, they do raise the perception of crime in the community but overall, in [the] western region, crime in the types of categories that we're talking about are significantly down in the last 12 months."