As the process continues, thank you, Parliamentary Secretary, Member for Dawesville, Acting Speaker.

01:24:12

My agreements today is to the Attorney General, and I thank him for taking the time to listen to me on such short notice.

01:24:18

I'd like to discuss a topic that is a complex issue and has been increasing in frequency in my electorate and in the Greater Mandurah region. I've had people raising their concerns by emails, phone calls or when I'm out and about the community in what seems to be an increasing antisocial behaviour of our young people. Before I go too far, I want to acknowledge the work of our local police in my electorate and in particular the officer in charge, Senior Sergeant Ian Francis, and his team. At the Manager Police station I met with Ian and his.

01:24:48

Regularly and regarding local issues in the Mandurah region and I appreciate all the work they do to keep us safe. Their record for apprehending criminals who have committed crimes across all facets from burglaries to assaults. Domestic violence has been exceptional, with manager police reporting some of the highest statistics in resolving cases and laying charges. The police are not the source of my community's frustration. If anything, residents understand how hard our local police are working. It is more towards what happens next in the system after the charges have been laid.

01:25:17

I understand youth justice is not as simple as finding someone guilty and sending them to detention. Courts are dealing with children, sometimes kids still in primary school and I know these circumstances have been taken into consideration. I also understand that the family environment, disability and life challenges all play a part in a judge's decision. As a registered psychologist, I also respect often that often rehabilitation programmes to divert children into a better Rd in life and also programmes to support their families are not soft options.

01:25:47

Especially when they work for some of our kids, giving them an opportunity to set themselves up on the right path again for a better life. But I'm also the local member and what I'm hearing from our community is a fairly consistent question about what's happening when this continues to happen. Police do their job, a young person goes through the system and with the same behaviour resurfaces weeks to months later. Over recent months I've I've had residents raise concerns over property damage, assaults, anti social behaviour, motorbikes tearing up local ovals and public reserves.

01:26:17

And two very recent cases, one of us sought with a group of young people and another of a cruelty towards native wildlife. I won't go into the specifics of these matters, partly because I don't have the full picture of what went before the courts, and also some of these cases may remain before the courts.

01:26:33

But one Falcon resident who came and saw me and sent me an email said that he's confronted by his names. Cliff. He was confronted by a group of young people on a e-bike near his home. He said it was very frightening experience that left him rattled and too scared to go on his daily walks. Now, unfortunately, it's a feeling that has been ongoing, an ongoing problem in my electorate, which comes and goes in waves. I have the oldest demographic in terms of age.

01:26:58

And so that's one of the the reasons why I have a lot of people that are like to go for walks.

01:27:03

A bit too scared too. I also understand that my community does not have access to everything that a sentencing officer has access to. They don't see the outcome, they don't see the reasoning behind it, and I know that the judiciary system have a very difficult job to do. Unfortunately though, when they come to reading the headline or the news after the event, or me reading the community Facebook pages, they feel that they've been let down and that a suitable consequence hasn't been given.

01:27:32

One of the reasons, attorney general, is that I'm hearing people talking.

01:27:35

About taking matters into their own hands or wanting to organise protests. I don't wanna see our community reach that point. I want people to have confidence that the systems working consequences are meaningful and that there's a clear pathway for everyone to be heard. I also know that vigilantism helps no one. It puts innocent peoples into harm's way and not to mention at legal risks for themselves, with police having 0 tolerance for anybody causing any harm to anyone.

01:28:02

Irrespective of their reasons, and really, this kind of action rarely resolves a problem.

01:28:06

However, dismissing a community's frustration outright could be an error in our judgement as well. I'm also sure that you're aware, Attorney General, my electorate covers Erskine right down to Brevard Heron and a great deal of it would be considered semi rural or peri urban, with areas of bushland, beaches and a large open reserve alongside the established suburbs. And it's probably one of the reasons that makes my area a great place to live in. But it also means fewer eyes on the street, fewer CCTV and more places where trouble can happen unseen.

01:28:37

In my area also we have 4 wheel drive and motorbike beaches and people go to the Bush for fun. And like I mentioned we have the oldest demographic but we also have a large development of block and build land sales happening with young families taking up the opportunity of owning their own home or moving out my way because rentals are reasonably priced. A1 and up constituent Tony also emailed me and I followed up with a phone call.

01:29:02

But put this balance well when he said to me he and his family moved back to WA after more than two decades away.

01:29:08

Choosing 1 and up as a family friendly environment, he said. His concern isn't with the young people generally, he said. Most people, there's a what you say, he said. He said he met a lot of great kids through his son and grandchildren and most are respectful members of the community.

01:29:25

He's concerned was that with the minority engaging in repeated anti social behaviour and he asked that prevention and rehabilitation be balanced with real accountability and the right resident and for the right for residents to feel safe. That said, the fact that that this small number of offenders does not reduce the impact on the people who are too scared to walk on our footpaths or won't go to shopping in our local supermarket at Dawesville or Falcon. I've had many requests for a police station down in Dawesville, which I know is not your portfolio attorney general.

01:29:55

But I have heard from the Senior Sergeant OIC and he said he doesn't need more infrastructure because policing of 2026 is done on the run and out of cars. So a police station is not the right thing down that area and that he has a lot of resources for that. Thank you.

01:30:15

Attorney General, for your time today and for listening to me and respectfully, my question to you is could you please outline for my community and for the member for Mandurah's community how judicial office weighs rehabilitation, deterrence, accountability and community safety when sentencing our young people and also when they become repeat offenders? And where a young person keeps coming back before the courts, what is actually available to the courts to manage this behaviour? I would also welcome your thoughts, Attorney General, whether there is more capacity needed in the intensive end of.

01:30:45

The spectrum for the small number of cases where light interventions haven't had the impact their judges were hoping. Thank you, member, and thank you, Attorney General, the Attorney General.

01:30:54

General, thank you. Can I thank the member for Dawesville for her grievance and for her advocacy for her electorate? They're a very lucky member for Dawesville to have you in their community. Could you are a local champion, ensuring that you represent all members and particularly those that are vulnerable in your community? And so I want to.

01:31:15

Address that number of the questions that you raised in your grievance could. I think they are very important questions and I know these are questions that your community wanted for you to bring here. So congratulations on that. But I have to say it is a very complex area and often there are some people that seek to grandstand on the issue. What we are serious about in the Cook Labor government is ensuring that we do what we can to ensure we have a community, a safe community, including your communities.

01:31:45

In Dawesville and be tough on crime, on youth crime but also the causes of youth crime. You asked how judicial officers weigh rehabilitation, deterrence, accountability and community safety when sentencing our young people. While in WA we have the Young Offenders Act of 1994 which is the the the Seminole or the key piece of legislation that judicial officers utilise when considering and determining young offenders sentencing.

01:32:13

Section 46 of that Act details a range of factors that they must.

01:32:16

Sit up. I went dearly with young offenders which include but not limited the nature and seriousness of the offence, any history or of offence previous committed, the cultural background of the offender and how young the offender is as a mitigating factor. In addition, judicial officers must consider general principles or juvenile justice which include, but is not limited to, a young person who commits offences to be dealt with in a way that encourages them to accept responsibility for their conduct.

01:32:44

Also, young person who commits an offence is not to be treated more severely.

01:32:48

Than an adult, the community must be protected and I know that's a paramount in your consideration. Protected from illegal behaviour. Responsible adults should be encouraged to take responsibility for care and supervision of young people. Detaining a young person in custody should only be used as a last resort and punishment of a young person for an offence should be designed to give the offender an opportunity to develop a sense of social responsibility.

01:33:16

And.

01:33:18

So that's really important to protect the community, to ensure that appropriate sentencing is matched with the offence that's been committed, but also to seek to rehabilitate because while we want to ensure that people are doubt we appropriately, we also want to help them rehabilitate because there's not only good for them, it's good for society. So when you're considering bail for young people, while a young person has a qualified right to bail, this is subject to several.

01:33:46

Receptions, including for repeat offenders. For example, under the Bail Act 1982, if a if a young person is charged with a serious offence while on bail for another serious offence, that a judicial officer shall refuse to grant a bail unless satisfied. There are exceptional reasons why a young person should not be kept in custody.

01:34:06

And importantly, it's important to note that offenders would likely face escalating penalties if they continue to commit offence. So it's not that they, you know, often it's, there's a general view out there that they're, they're not dealt with more severely if they repeat offenders, they are.

01:34:22

Dealt with more severely, I repeat offend them may be subject to a range of outcomes when engaging in criminal activity, including but not limited to fines, a youth community based order, an intensive youth supervision order, conditional release order or a period of detention. You know obviously it's incredibly sad when a young person.

01:34:40

Is placing detention, it's incredibly sad, incredibly sad for the community, incredibly sad for they need individual. So obviously we have that, that's part of our judicial system, our criminal justice system and it is utilised. But we hope that we can prevent people getting down to to that situation. And of course, the the commit a serious crime, will commit a or have committed a crime before, they're more likely to be subject to harsher penalties, including detention.

01:35:07

So member I'm I'm running out of time. There's a lot to talk about here, but we have also.

01:35:12

The guy to legislate in Parliament, we passed, well, we passed this chamber, the government post to boast legislation, which unfortunately the, the, the opposition in the upper house then referred to a committee that should be legislation. That's law now, but it's not law because the other side decided to play politics and refer it off to the committee in the other place. And that was really important. That's incredibly important legislation.

01:35:38

Because what that's trying to do is crack down on people posting criminal activity on the Internet.

01:35:44

Which glorifies glorifies criminal activity often makes the the person the offender.

01:35:52

Builds their status and and obviously can encourage others to engage in similar activities. So crime influences, we try to guard against that. So hopefully that will be passed in the Upper House at some stage. At the moment, as we speak here, the other House will be debating the retail bar in orders legislation.

01:36:14

Hopefully they can get past there today and then come back down here. And I thank the member for Kareem in when we had it in this chamber, how the debate was a a good debate and we hope the Legislative Council can pass that. What that's going to ensure is that people that enter retail premises that engage in activity that is causing a threat to a shop worker, you the the the owner, the business and if they won't do it, the.

01:36:44

The responsible union can ask or apply for a retail bar in order to ban that person, the offending person from that precinct, which I think is incredibly important.

01:36:56

You know, they are all very important then, but also he's trying to prevent young people offending and I am running out of time. But Justice Quayle, the president of the Children's Court recently at an ABC rape, said that when you invest in community programmes like night spaces and you look after kids, the crime rates drops. Secondly, with the right support from government, troubled kids can be turned around and sent on a rehabilitative path in your area in in the Mandurah area for you and the member for Mandurah, you'd see initiatives that target.

01:37:25

The the drivers of.

01:37:26

Youth offenders are working. In 2/16/17 there were 215 charges lodged against young people in Mandurah. In 2526, this number has dropped to 168, a reduction of almost 22%. This is an incredibly important result, but with a lot more work to be done down there. But programmes like On Track to Thrive, old ways, new wave programmes that we invested in and we'll continue to invest in, they are really important to ensure that we can keep young people out of the criminal justice system. But if they are, they.

01:37:56

Yeah, we've appropriately thanked the member for her grievance. Thank.

01:37:59

You. Thank you, Attorney General. That brings us to committee reports.