Luke is joined by Niki Gent from Family and Child Consultants, an Adelaide-based organisation specialising in youth crime, family, and child issues who has earned a reputation as a go-to expert in the youth crime field.

The figures are staggering and it’s an issue in not just Queensland, but in NSW and Victoria – in Victoria, data from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released a month or two back suggests that home burglaries committed by 10-to-14-year-olds increased by almost 87% in the 12 months to 31 March, compared with the prior year.

The deputy commissioner of regional operations at Victoria police, Rick Nugent, said “It is the thrill, it is social media and sometimes people are just caught up with the wrong group.”

Ms Gent works with many of these juvenile criminals, before and after the court deals with them and says that the system is not well enough coordinated and society has to do better in keeping young Australians connected.

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