Entries by category: Young People

'Bail Me Out: NSW young offenders and bail' has been produced by the Youth Justice Coalition.  This research examined 145 cases before the Children's Court.  It describes the links between homelessness, policing practices and community resources and the young offender's breaching of bail conditions.

'Breach of Bail and Juvenile remand and crime' and 'Trends in bail and sentencing outcomes' are earlier blog posts that will link you to other research that has been done on this issue.

If you have a reader's card for the State Library of NSW, you can find more articles in the media on Proquest ANZ Newsstand dealing with bail.  These include:

• 'Juvenile justice: responding to Australia's children and young people in trouble with the law' by Jenny Bargen, (2008)  92 Reform (Winter) 28-32, 72, and
• 'Law and order 2008: a very tough new world' by Dennis Miralis, (2008) 64 (3) Law Society Journal (April) 60-63.

Legal Aid NSW have recently launched an interactive website called Burn which includes a short film and teaching resources and links to legal information focussing on group offending such as "rolling". 

Burn follows the events that unfold when what begins as a typical evening for a group of teenage boys in Sydney takes a turn for the worse.  Cruising aimlessly around the suburbs in a car they have borrowed from a cousin, the boys find themselves involved in a series of random incidents.  When one of the boys spots an opportunity to get some quick cash, things suddenly spiral out of control.

This film carries an M (Mature Audience) rating and is recommended for young people 15 years and over.  It includes coarse language and some low level depictions of violence and drug use. 

This film could be used by Legal Studies teachers in Year 11 if looking at young people or in Year 12 as a part of Crime.  There are useful links on the website to information about the right to silence, police interviews, the children's court, robbery offences, group assaults, joint criminal assaults and other topics.  The teaching resources include a detailed background paper. 

This short film will raise discussion about young people in groups and their behaviour in public places.  There are suggested activities to do in class to get students to think about legal concepts, the responsibility of each character involved, the crime of "rolling" (groups of youths intimidating people into handing over cash, mobile phones and watches etc) and how the police will treat each participant - and that each will be charged with a criminal offence.