The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has left the door open to sentencing reform, saying the community wants “consequences” for “brazen, shocking behaviour” amid concerns about violent crime.
The comments mark a shift in language and come after a cabinet subcommittee met on Monday to address growing concerns about youth crime in the state and police and union calls for tougher sentences for repeat offenders.
It follows several high-profile incidents, including an allegedly stolen car driven into Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall, an alleged machete clash at Northland shopping centre in May and the alleged murder of two boys walking home from basketball in Cobblebank last month.
The subcommittee – which includes Allan, the attorney general and ministers overseeing police and justice portfolios – met on Monday to consider possible responses.
Several senior government sources, not authorised to speak publicly, told Guardian Australia the group heard from ministers who met with members of the South Sudanese community after the Cobblebank deaths, who expressed a desire for stronger sentences to act as a deterrent.
They were also shown research indicating that community expectations around sentencing were not being met. The research suggested that people wanted to see “tougher consequences” to deal with crime, rather than solely rely on other preventive efforts such as rehabilitation and education programs.
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Last month, data from the Crime Statistics Agency showed repeat offenders continued to drive the increase in crime. About 5,400 people – or just 0.078% of Victoria’s population – were responsible for 40% of recorded crime last financial year.
Allan on Thursday confirmed the government was “considering how the justice system responds to the community concerns around this repeat brazen behaviour”.
Asked whether sentences were keeping up with community expectations, she said: “It is fair to say that the community does expect that where there has been this brazen, shocking behaviour, that there are consequences.”
While no decisions were made at Monday’s meeting, work on potential reforms is under way. The government has already changed the bail laws twice, introduced a machete ban and new “post and boast” laws targeting criminals who film their offending.
The Coalition opposition has vowed to go further, with its proposal for “break bail face jail”, greater knife search powers and a boot camp-style program for youth offenders.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, Wayne Gatt, the secretary of the Police Association Victoria, repeated his calls for tougher sentencing for repeat offenders.
“Victorians are sick of hearing excuses, they want to see consequences,” he said.
“Sentencing outcomes are failing to meet the objectives set out in the Sentencing Act. Most critically, the protection of the community, the needs of victims and the need for general and specific deterrence need to be bolstered and elevated above all other considerations.”
In the immediate wake of the Cobblebank deaths, a senior Victoria police investigator, Det Insp Graham Banks, said youth crime had been steadily getting worse for a decade and called for increased sentences.
This was supported by the chief commissioner, Mike Bush, who said Banks had “said what many of us think”.
Separate to the government’s work, Bush was expected to release a crime prevention plan in the coming weeks.
However, any push for tougher sentencing is likely to face resistance from legal and human rights groups, who argue such measures undermine judicial independence.
On Tuesday, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, called for mandatory minimum jail terms for federal child exploitation offences and raised the case of a Victorian parent who was given a four-year-and-nine-month jail term – with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years – after sexually abusing their daughter, as well as producing child abuse material.
• In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380
