‘Zero to 100’: alarm over violent youth crime surge
Rachael Ward |
Record-high crime in one state is being driven by the “prolific offending” of a core group as authorities raise the alarm about a rising trend of extreme youth violence.
There was a near-16 per cent jump in offences in Victoria in the 12 months to June 30, 2025, the latest Crime Statistics Agency data shows.
Some 5400 individuals who were arrested 10 times or more committed 40 per cent of the state’s total crime.
About 1100 youths aged 10 to 17 were arrested a combined 7000 times as Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill declared children were quickly turning to extreme violence.
“This escalation goes from zero to 100 with some of those people,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“Some of the people we’re arresting for these violent offences, these serious assaults, the homicides … had no prior history.”
He pointed to a shift in youth crime since COVID-19 lockdowns, a trend thought to be driven by disconnection from the broader community.
A jump in technology used to commit offences, cost-of-living pressure and illicit drug use were cited among the key drivers of crime.
The force has set itself a target of reducing serious and violent crime by five per cent per year.
Recently appointed police commissioner Mike Bush will reveal further details of the plan in October.
Overall, four of the five fastest-growing offences involved theft, including motor vehicle theft, which was up 42.1 per cent – the highest level since 2002.
Retail theft rose by 27.6 per cent, with major concern about criminal syndicates continuing to target shops.
The retail workers’ union said it was unacceptable and pushed for the state government to speed up the promised introduction of tougher penalties for people who abused workers.
They also want offenders who hurt staff to be banned from returning to stores.
“Every day of waiting leaves workers exposed to abuse, intimidation and harm,” Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association Victorian branch secretary Michael Donovan said.
Australian Retail Association chief executive Chris Rodwell said the data reflected the unacceptable toll of crime on staff across the state.
Offences involving prohibited and controlled weapons rose 11.5 per cent and there was a record number of family violence incidents, which were up 7.7 per cent.
Bail decisions across the decade were analysed for the first time, revealing bail applications at magistrates courts jumped 18.4 per cent in 12 months, attributed to higher refusals and revocations.
It’s the first crime snapshot to capture quarterly data since tougher bail laws – which scrapped the principle of remand as a last resort for children and reintroduced bail offences – came into effect in March.
Stricter machete ownership rules came into force on September 1, with a second raft of bail changes targeting repeat serious offenders to be rolled out soon.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the rising crime rate was unacceptable but did not say when it could be expected to improve.
“Victoria Police and the government are focused on pulling up the crime rate as soon as we can,” he said.
Opposition Leader Brad Battin said police needed more officers on the beat as soon as possible, greater powers to act on knife crime and tougher enforcement of bail breaches.
“People don’t deserve a second chance when they’re committing violent crimes in our state,” he said.
There has been heightened concern about youth crime in Melbourne since the fatal stabbing of two boys as they walked home from basketball earlier in September.
Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akueng, 15, were allegedly set upon by a group of masked males armed with machetes and other bladed weapons.
Eight teens have been charged with their murders and are before the courts.
AAP
