New laws have been proposed in South Australia to crackdown on gang activity and prevent youth recruitment.
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00:00These laws would operate very similar to outlaw motorcycle gang laws, and they would give
00:07police greater powers to disrupt criminal activity involving vulnerable young people.
00:12The laws would allow authorities to declare identified criminal groups as street gangs
00:18and also make it an offence to recruit new members, with anyone caught attempting or
00:22successfully luring someone into a street gang facing up to three years in prison.
00:29Under the proposal, courts would also be able to impose conditions limiting access to weapons,
00:35interaction with other street gang members, as well as attendance at certain locations,
00:40and anyone found breaching one of those control orders would face up to five years in prison.
00:45This proposal is part of the state government's Young Offender Plan, and it's despite South
00:50Australia having the second lowest rate of youth offending in the country.
00:54The state's Attorney General, Kyem Ma, says motorcycle gang laws weren't set up to address
00:59the small number of street gangs here in South Australia, which is why these new laws are needed.
01:05Take a listen.
01:06The street gangs tend to be less structured, more fluid in their membership, which is why
01:11we need specific laws to tackle them.
01:13But once an organisation is declared, the police will have the power for control orders which
01:18can control things like who you associate with.
01:21This proposal has raised some criticism from advocates who believe that early intervention
01:26programs are more effective in addressing youth crime.
01:30And the state's Guardian for Children and Young People, Shona Reid, says she's concerned
01:35this legislation could have unintended consequences.
01:37But, Gemma, the state government is now seeking community consultation, and it does expect these
01:42laws to pass parliament by the end of the year.