A new Victorian offence is to be introduced targeting adults who get kids to do their dirty criminal work. The law is to be introduced in 2017, and is called Fagin’s Law, allowing for adults to be jailed for up to 10 years.

The law is being called Fagin’s Law after the man in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, who teaches children to steal in exchange for a place to stay. It has been established after a spate of youth crime, sometimes at the behest of adults.

A new youth training program is also being established to restrict the people with whom a young person associates, and can order curfews, and send youths to school, training, or work programs. A stricter bail monitoring scheme is also in the pipeline for young offenders to be dealt with in adult courts, and increases to the maximum period of detention from three up to four years.

Need legal advice? Contact Vanessa Ash.