As a deeply concerned individual residing in Moree, I find myself incessantly swamped with phone calls, text messages, and social media discussions about the escalating crime rates in our community. The sense of urgency and despair among us is palpable, and it's time we took action. We face a common issue: juveniles committing grave offenses, but their penalties do not reflect the severity of their actions under current NSW laws.

Inspired by Queensland's groundbreaking laws, this petition seeks the NSW government to enact similar legislation that ensures "Adult Crime, Adult Time." These laws grant courts the ability to hand out just penalties to offenders, no matter their age, particularly for severe crimes. This has proven effective in Queensland, significantly reducing juvenile crime (source: Queensland Department of Youth Justice) and contributing to a safer community.

By integrating 'Adult Crime, Adult Time' into NSW's laws, we could inspire a palpable reduction in the frequency of serious crimes committed by juveniles. This notion isn't about punishing our young people excessively, it's about holding them accountable to the full extent for crimes that have adult consequences.

Remember, we have the power to implement change. It starts with a signature. Stand with us. Sign this petition, and let the NSW government know that 'Adult Crime, Adult Time' is a necessity for creating a safer community for all.

What needs to change:

• children who commit specified offences be liable to the same maximum, mandatory, and minimum penalties as adults
• remove the principle of detention as a last resort, and the principle that a non-custodial order is better than detention in promoting a child’s ability to reintegrate into the community
• promote the consideration of the impacts of offending on victims in the Charter of Youth Justice Principles and when sentencing a child
• alter the process for the transfer of 18-year-old detainees from youth detention centres to corrective services facilities.
• include a relative of the victim among the classes of persons able to be present during criminal proceedings
• remove the ability of the court to make an exclusion order in relation to victims’ representatives (including the representatives of a relative of a deceased victim), and persons holding media accreditation
• include cautions, restorative justice agreements, variations of community-based sentence orders, and breaches of supervised release orders and community-based sentence orders in a child’s criminal history
• enable a person’s child criminal history to be admitted when they are sentenced as an adult, for up to five years after the most recent child entry
• enable an adult’s childhood findings of guilt for certain offences to be admitted, for up to five years, as previous convictions for the purpose of a charge of dangerous operation of a vehicle with a circumstance of aggravation relating to a previous conviction
• remove the need for an application for direct victims of child offenders, and immediate family members of victims who have died as a result of the offence, to be placed on the eligible persons register to receive information about the custody status of the offender.

In relation to child custodial facilities:

• update arrangements for determining the gender of persons who will conduct searches or provide health services in youth detention centres, to reflect trauma-informed contemporary best practice
• provide for x-ray imaging searches in youth detention centres, to reduce the need for unclothed searches