Other legislative provisions concerning young people The Young Offenders Act 1997 (YOA) introduced a legislative framework for the diversion of young

Other legislative provisions concerning young people The Young Offenders Act 1997 (YOA) introduced a legislative framework for the diversion of young

offenders for a specified range of offences (s8); principles require that the least restrictive form of intervention be used (s7(a)), and that criminal proceedings not be used if there is an available and offenders for a specified range of offences (s8); principles require that the least restrictive form of intervention be used (s7(a)), and that criminal proceedings not be used if there is an available and

In NSW the Bail Act prevails over other acts including the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (CCPA), and the principles for dealing with young people (s6) in the CCPA do not apply to bail. This is unlike the position in Victoria where the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, prevails over the Bail Act. The VLRC has recommended that this position be given further emphasis by including ‘child-specific factors’ that bail decision makers should consider within the Victorian Bail Act ( 2007: 156). In 2005 the NSWLRC also recommended ‘the development of specific bail criteria that address the needs of young people …[to] protect the young person’s welfare and safety if he or she is detained’ (para 10.31) and that these should incorporate the principles set out in s.6 of the CCPA (rec 10.2). In what is bcoming a common refrain, the recommendation has not been acted on.

Tighter enforcement of bail conditions Breach of bail is not an offence. Rather, s50 of the Bail Act provides for the person to be brought before the court to reconsider bail. However, there is evidence of police targeting of compliance with bail conditions, and of using this as a performance measure. For instance, police annual reports note specific operations to target breach of bail and the use by some commands of ‘nightly bail compliance checks, particularly on juveniles’ (NSWPF 2008: 15). Data indicate a 250 per cent increase in arrests for outstanding warrants and/or breach of bail from 2003-04 to 2007-08, but the statistics reported do not differentiate between young people and adults (NSWPF 2008). While bail compliance is a legitimate concern for police and courts, the imposition of inappropriate bail conditions carries the likelihood that breaches may be difficult to avoid, and may generate harsh consequences for non-criminal behavior. Enforcement activity such as ‘nightly bail compliance checks’ may be excessive, oppressive, and a questionable use of police resources, especially when bail conditions are unrelated to the circumstances of the alleged offence.

Recent research has found that police enforcement activity is partly responsible for the substantial growth in the number of young people remanded in custody. Of young people who were arrested for Recent research has found that police enforcement activity is partly responsible for the substantial growth in the number of young people remanded in custody. Of young people who were arrested for

As Mather has noted, rigid enforcement of bail conditions ‘risks the criminalisation of non-criminal behaviour’ and ‘has the potential to….amplify deviant behaviour and intensify measures aimed at their control’ (2007: 688). Cunneen et al also found that conditions ‘such as curfews and restrictions on movement (for example, not to enter a central business district) meant that [Indigenous] young people were breached and brought into the system early and unnecessarily’(2006: 126).