Are youth gangs a problem in Australia?
Concern over youth gangs is an import from the United States. In Australia there are very few organised youth gangs. Young people generally act alone or in pairs. Most juvenile crime is episodic, transitory, local, unplanned, and not repeated. 70% of young people who offend once and appear in court do not subsequently reappear. Why are so many young Aboriginal people in custody? Police target Aboriginal young people, especially in country areas. This has resulted in a situation of continuing and increasing over-representation of Aboriginal children in custody. In the early 1990’s, 26% of children in custody were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. In 1999 the figure had grown to 34% of the total population, and in 2002 it was on average 39%.(DJJ Annual report, 2002-2003) Social and economic circumstances such as poverty, discrimination, child abuse, drug addiction and exclusion from education make Aboriginal young people both more visible and more vulnerable to involvement in the cr
