Parents of teenaged criminals to face jail if they don’t dob in children for bail breach, under Labor policy

Parents of young offenders out on bail will face jail if they fail to tell police of their child’s breaches, under a proposed Labor election policy. The crackdown on parents is part of a sweeping overhaul of the juvenile justice system which the Cook Government vowed to roll out if re-elected for a third term at the March State election. For those young offenders on bail, responsible adults will be required to warn officials of breaches of conditions or face up to three years in prison, under the yet-to-be-drafted laws. “This is going to hold parents to account,” Police Minister Paul Papalia said on Thursday. “Parents of these juveniles on bail will now have a responsibility to ensure they comply and notify the authorities if they breach (conditions). “That is a big initiative making sure that parents take responsibility for their children’s behaviour.” The Government also flagged monitoring youth on bail by using new technology, with some suggestions the pandemic-era G2G app — which ensured home quarantine participants remained in their residences — could be used to be used to check curfew compliance. As part of the proposed laws, violent young offenders who are charged with a second violent offence while out on bail will have their trial fast-tracked and held within 28 days of the second charge. The bid also includes changes to bail applications, allowing the president of the Children’s Court to overturn a lower magistrate’s decision to release an offender before trial on the same day if the Police prosecutor appeals. The wave of changes — part of a $14.5 million package — will be supported by the creation of a satellite Children’s Court in the old Armadale Courthouse to relieve pressure on the main body in Perth. Facing questions over whether the fast-tracked trials would allow for fair hearings, and congest the legal system, outgoing Attorney General John Quigley said the proposal was designed to get juveniles to change their behaviour sooner. Mr Quigley said the community was “sick” of offenders and lawyers “playing games” with the courts. “The purpose of the 28-day trial date is to sharpen and focus everyone’s mind, both the prosecution and the defence, that this is going ahead in 28 days and that means that there’ll be a lot of pleas of guilty earlier,” he said. “We can afford to put a bit more pressure on the prosecution and the defence because what we’ve got to do is relieve the pressure off the community.” Shadow attorney general Nick Goiran said while the Liberals did not object to the proposals, West Australians could not believe Labor on crime. “We’re absolutely calling to question their capacity to be able to deliver on that because at the end of the day, when it comes to law and order. We need action more than words,” Mr Goiran said. “Why would we believe anything that John Quigley says — he’s in retirement mode. He’s not even going to deliver on these promises.”