This week I joined the Premier, Minister Dib, the Police Commissioner and NRL stars Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker to launch project pathfinder.
It’s a wonderful new program that’s giving teenagers from our regions mentoring and opportunities through the NRL.
This is all about the NSW Police Force, NRL and Youth Justice NSW using the power of sport to help break the cycle.
Project pathfinder is part of a broader NSW Government initiative to tackle youth crime. This includes reforms to bail laws to include a temporary additional bail test for young people between 14 and 18 charged with committing certain serious break and enter offences or motor vehicle theft offences while on bail for similar offences.
The government has also created a ‘performance crime’ offence in the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)imposing an additional penalty of two years’ imprisonment for people who commit motor vehicle theft or break and enter offences and share material to advertise their involvement in the criminal behaviour.
The NSW Government is also investing
$12.9 million to fund a new range of state-wide regional crime prevention initiatives including:
Expansion of Youth Action Meetings (YAMs) in nine Police Districts.
Expansion of the Safe Aboriginal Youth Patrol Program (SAY) to an additional five Closing the Gap (CTG) priority locations (to be determined in consultation with communities), reducing the risk of young Aboriginal people being victims of crime, and the risk they will become persons of interest in relation to a crime.
$7.5 million in Justice Reinvestment grants with grant funding available to recipients as early as June 2024.
Our community will directly benefit from this investment with a YAM to be established in the Lake Macquarie Police District and the Tuggerah Lakes/ Brisbane Waters Police District. These YAMs will bring together an interagency response to deal with youth offenders.
