Draconian Youth Bail Laws are Failing
In March, the Minns Labor Government plans to make the Parliament extend their draconian youth bail laws for a further three years, extending the total duration of these harsh laws to four years.
Youth Remand Numbers Soaring - Crime Not Decreasing
On 18 February 2025, the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research released a report showing the number of young people on remand has increased by 34.4% since the introduction of these laws 1 year ago.
Putting more children & young people in prison does not stop crime, nor does it make any of us safer. Over the past year, conservative media and political forces have spun a dangerously false narrative around an alleged ‘crisis’ of youth crime.
Harsh Bail Laws Introduced
In response to this manufactured crisis, the Minns Labor Government rushed through legislation last year imposing a stringent ‘high degree of confidence’ bail test on young people—a standard never before applied in NSW criminal law. This means children now face stricter bail tests than adults accused of the same, or even more serious, offences.
This law was introduced despite strong opposition from over 60 leading legal and human rights bodies—including Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT, Amnesty International, the NSW Bar Association, and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties—all of whom warned that these measures go against clear evidence and betray commitments to Closing the Gap. Even some Labor MPs publicly expressed disagreement.
Judicial Officers Speaking Out
It is telling that independent and expert District and Supreme Court judges are among those who are calling out these laws as ‘draconian’, ‘unfairly discriminatory’, and ‘ham-fisted’. It is an extreme rebuke of these laws that senior judges, who, let’s face it, rarely speak out, are so clearly refuting the political fear mongers in the NSW Parliament and warning about the dangerous nature of these laws.
Disproportionate Impact on First Nations Youth
These laws have utterly failed in preventing crime. Currently, 70% of young people behind bars are unsentenced, awaiting trial on remand - they are innocent under the law. Productivity Commission data further reveals:
- 88% of children impacted by these laws are First Nations
- 90% of those imprisoned under these laws are First Nations
The NSW Government is not preventing crime, they are just locking up more children and young people, further entrenching cycles of crime.
High Financial and Social Costs
NSW spends approximately $3,000 per day ($1 million per year) to keep a child in custody in NSW. These funds should instead be directed towards evidence-based solutions that prevent youth crime and keep children out of a punitive system that entrenches crime and suffering.
An Opportunity for Change
These harmful bail laws were initially introduced with a 12-month sunset clause, due to expire this March. Yet, shamefully, the Premier is determined to extend them until 2028, choosing political headlines over effective solutions.
The Solutions We Need and Deserve
We urgently call on the Premier and Attorney-General to let these damaging laws expire and instead implement evidence-based approaches:
- Expand bail and diversionary measures such as warnings and cautions and link those to diversionary programs
- Greater Investment in families and local communities to proactively prevent crime
- Resource Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations adequately
- Raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years
We must focus on effective, humane solutions rather than destructive, politically motivated and racist policies that harm children and communities and further entrench.