'Afraid to admit' we have a 'crisis': Dubbo needs help with youth crime

On March 12, the NSW government announced Moree as the site of a pilot to address crime, support young people and improve community safety.

But Dubbo councillor Josh Black said he believes Dubbo could have been the site of the trial if council had been more proactive.

"Good for Moree. They had a council that wasn't afraid to admit they had a problem and pressure the state government for the resources needed to help make their community safe," he said.

"The Moree mayor admits they have a crime problem, invites the premier to town to hear all about it, and gets the extra resources.

"All while Dubbo's mayor and his 'team' vote down a similar crime summit, say there's no crime problem, and Dubbo misses out."

Included in the $13.4 million package for Moree are additional judicial resources for the local court, a new $8.75 million bail accommodation and support service and more after school activities.

"I look forward to seeing the results of the pilot program in Moree and the benefits from a sustained focus on the causes of youth crime and its impacts," duty MLC for the electorate Stephen Lawrence said.

Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said the investment came as a result of a visit to the region by NSW premier Chris Minns in February. He said he and local mayor Mark Johnson have been in "regular talks" with the government about the issue.

Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson, on the other hand, has gone on the record denying the town has a crime problem and opposed calls for a local crime summit.

"I'm so pleased we now have some tangible and bespoke solutions, based on what our community said and needs," Mr Marshall said, welcoming the investment for Moree.

"This is great news for Moree - we have secured half of the money in the government's statewide package announced today - but now have some hope of turning this awful youth crime trend around."

Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders said while he welcomed the efforts to assist Moree, the "deepening crisis" requires more than a one off pilot program.

"A cookie-cutter approach is not going to help families in other communities like Bourke, Dubbo, Casino, Orange or Gunnedah that need help right now," he said.

"We need to design a response for each regional town because they will have different issues, different resources, different capacity on the ground and different organisations that can be engaged as part of the solution."

Shadow Minister for Police Paul Toole agreed. He said "communities are scared" and "can't afford to wait for a lengthy trial" in one town to end before they see change in their town.

"We've got stories of people bashed in their homes, knifed in their driveways and having their cars stolen, and this can't go on," he said.

Dubbo Regional Council hasn't had a crime prevention plan since 2014 and with the rising crime problems and calls for the council to do something, they are in the process of endorsing a new community safety and crime prevention plan.

At the most recent standing committee meetings the councillors decided that the community safety plan will encompass crime prevention priorities and action plans.

It was also made clear the chief executive officer would develop a youth strategy with the youth council.

Council's director of community, culture and places Craig Arms said in the report that car theft and items being stolen from cars could be part of the plan, if it goes ahead.

"The reality is, Dubbo Regional Council, although being a significant community leader, has a limited role and capacity to influence the broad and complex area of social cohesion."

He said the main role the council could play in community safety and crime prevention was "to facilitate the coming together of the numerous and diverse government and non-government service providers and advocacy groups" to share information and coordinate efforts."

Councillor Pam Wells - who moved the motion to endorse the crime prevention report - said there was a "really robust" discussion at the last social justice committee meeting where the community safety and crime prevention plan was brought up.

"We need to get moving on it because we need to give the community some confidence we are doing something," she said.

"I think we are moving forward and I feel we have gone up a gear and there will be a community safety plan that will cover youth crime and crime prevention."

Cr Black said he thought it was good the CEO would be developing a youth strategy.

"Breaking the cycle of youth offending is going to take decades to do, it's not an easy fix and it will take decades but all of these strategies feed into getting kids engaged when they're young and looking to break the cycle of kids getting into the criminal justice system," he said.

Between January and December 2023, there were 1094 cases of malicious damage to property and 501 break and enters in Dubbo, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

There were also 282 stolen motor vehicles and 506 thefts from motor vehicles in the region.

Cr Black said that anything the council can do to help would be a good thing.

"Noting that the Dubbo LGA (local government area) is only one of two LGAs in NSW from the BOCSAR stats that are above the state average for all 13 broad categories in crime, with Moree being the only other LGA," he said.

"So we need to do anything we can as a council, or at least do what we can in absence of other resources from the state and other governments."

Councillor Matt Wright said having youth crime and youth at the centre of the plan was really important.

"Youth crime across all regions is growing seemingly exponentially and I'm sure everyone, right or wrong, has their own opinions as to why," he said.

"I know there is a growing push in the community for council to take ownership of this or just have more police but it's deeper than that."

Cr Wright mentioned all the different services that need to be on board to make the plan work - from council and police to the education department and housing organisations.

"It's really deep and not just a council problem to try and fight crime," he said.