Quick fixes won’t solve the complex issue of crime in Australia’s communities. In this Insight column originally published in The Land, Robbie Sefton argues for long-term, prevention-focused strategies like early intervention, youth engagement and meaningful investment in housing, education and employment as the only sustainable path to safer communities. Emotional reactions may grab headlines, but they rarely drive real change.
15 May 2025
Insight from: Robbie Sefton
The saying, 'home is your castle' is intended to reflect the notion that home should be a place where we have the right to privacy and security. But, for an increasing number of rural and regional residents, this doesn't ring true anymore.
Instead, they feel a growing sense of unease and a heightened sense of vulnerability following what is seen as unacceptable rates of crime across the state.
Calls for action on crime are nothing new, and calls for crackdowns on youth offenders have been particularly loud across the state in the past 12 months. A NSW parliamentary inquiry into community safety in regional and rural communities was given the green light in 2024, something many NSW peak bodies like the CWA of NSW, NSW Country Mayors Association and NSW Farmers, had been calling for since 2023. It was based in large part on figures showing a growing gap between crime rates in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.
This month, an e-petition launched by a Tamworth woman around changes to the Young Offenders Act is due to go before the NSW Parliament. She started the petition after experiencing the horror of multiple home invasions, and in less than a month, it had achieved the 20,000 signatures required for it to be tabled in Parliament.
The NSW government has responded to the issue in the past year with changes to bail laws and initiating police crackdowns in a number of communities. But, as many can appreciate, the issue is by no means simple to solve with so many factors contributing to the incidents of crime being reported. Locking offenders up for longer and toughening bail laws are just part of the story.
These are relatively easy measures for governments to pursue, and they certainly need to be considered as part of the overall picture, but the reality is that making a meaningful dent in rates of crime - youth crime in particular - will take time, as well as more resources and commitment by policy-makers, law enforcement and communities. Stopping the offending in the first place is the real answer, rather than trying to address it after the fact.
More investment in diversionary programs that address issues affecting many offenders, such as drug and alcohol dependency, mental illness and homelessness, is key to finding a real way forward.
In the case of young offenders, who are often disengaged from the school system, forms of intervention to get them back into education in some form are vital for getting them out of trouble and providing them with a platform for future full-time employment and a life of opportunities that doesn't include incarceration.
More support for families from where young offenders are coming is another consideration. Ensuring secure housing and regular meals is just as important as helping parents provide the guidance and care children need.
Again, I don't pretend to know just how we achieve this, but we must keep trying. If something's not working, try something else, and those strategies that are yielding results, allocate more resources to them.
For governments that only have limited terms to achieve results, long-term strategies are often not particularly attractive. But on this issue, the results won't come from a quick fix but from innovative ideas, ongoing resources and a steadfast commitment to real and meaningful change.
