Council has developed a new committee to investigate the possibility of tackling intergenerational social disadvantage and substance abuse, criminal behaviour and other social problems. The working party – comprised of mayor Ben Shields, councillors Vicki Etheridge, David Grant, Anne Jones, Stephen Lawrence and John Ryan, and relevant council staff – will look at the establishment of a drug court, residential rehabilitation centre, a youth Koori court and justice reinvestment initiatives.

Cr Lawrence said for too long in the region there has not been a sufficient focus on crime.

“We do need an appropriate stern focus in our courts but if we are to make real headway in reducing our unacceptably high crime rates, which in some respects are triple state averages, we need a sustained effort to attack the causes of crime,” he said.

“It's a complicated issue and if council is to take a new direction in this respect then we all have a lot of learning and policy development to do.”

Council will look at the action being undertaken in Burnie, Tasmania to address social problems, as well as other similar initiatives, to see what the council is doing and if it could be adapted to Dubbo.

Cr Lawrence said he had spent years in the Dubbo court and there was no doubt it was the social circumstances of people that lead them into criminal offending.

“It might be said that it embodies things that aren't of the role of local government. I'll just say this: the local government act under which we operate certainly gives us a broad remit to prove services and to be involved in a range of things and indeed if you look at the portfolio of this council we are doing all sorts of things, we are running a saleyard, we are running an airport, we are running a childcare centre... These are choices. We choose to act and we choose not to act,” Cr Lawrence said.

There may also be criticisms that enough was being done to tackle crime, he said.

“From my personal perspective, having sat down in those court cells interviewing hundreds of people over the years, trying to get a quick way of getting on top of their lives so I can present it to court... I can tell you it's my personal opinion that we are not doing enough and it's my person view that we should do as much good as we possibly can,” Cr Lawrence said.

Cr Shields said the time to push for harder law and order penalties had come and gone.

“You can't just totally go down the way of fixing Dubbo's social problems by just having a big stick, we also need a carrot approach as well. It’s probably more important to have the carrot approach,” he said.

“This is a way we can move forward in this area so we can facilitate the progression of getting better outcomes for all members of our community when it comes to social justice, when it comes to law and order. This is a way for council to make Dubbo a better place to live for all of its residents.”

A report on the Burnie initiatives will be presented to council in December.