There are a number of factors influencing a young person’s decision to offend. One of the factors identified by professionals as being of high significance is the lack of suitable parental or guardian oversight.

As it stands, the law has limited ability to respond to situations where a lack of oversight is the reason youth offending occurs. This is a deficiency that has been identified by the Police, Judges, and the wider community working with young people.

This Bill gives Youth Court Judges the ability to impose conditions on parents or guardians when their child is already in the jurisdiction of the Youth Court. Failure to comply with these orders is punishable by a fine or a term of imprisonment.

This liability serves 2 purposes. First, it gives courts the ability to recognise the connection between a child’s offending and a parent’s or guardian’s behaviour toward the child. Secondly, it is intended to make a parent or guardian stop and recognise the consequences of their behaviour to their children.

The Bill’s amendment to the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 does not seek to punish ordinary parents and guardians. For parents and guardians to come within the scope of the provision the young person must have been charged with an offence in the Youth Court and be released on bail.

New Zealand can do better to recognise the holistic drivers of youth crime. This Bill takes a step in the right direction by making a parent or guardian lawfully entrusted with the custody and care of a child or young person accountable for their child’s behaviour where it is connected to a lack of adequate oversight.