NSW judge questions policy preventing support for youths on bail unless there is guilty plea

In decision on bail for Aboriginal 12-year-old, judge says she has ‘disquiet’ about 2005 bail protocol between children’s court and youth justice

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A NSW supreme court judge who granted bail to a 12-year-old Aboriginal boy has questioned a policy that prevents youth justice workers from supporting alleged offenders in the community until they have pled guilty.

Judge Dina Yehia said in her decision, released on Wednesday, that she had some “disquiet” about a 2005 bail protocol that exists between the children’s court and youth justice which prohibited supervision by youth justice workers of an alleged offender on parole unless they had pled guilty.