Youth crime: Rhetoric vs reality

This lecture draws on A/Prof. Susan Baidawi’s 15 years of research focusing on youth justice systems, highlighting her research on the criminalisation of young people with complex needs. Dr Baidawi will discuss what the current statistics tell us about the reality of youth offending, and what the synthesised evidence tells us about the most effective systemic responses. She will then present an overview of her body of research concerning ‘crossover’ children who experience dual involvement in child protection and youth justice systems, highlighting their pathways to criminalisation, evidence-informed policy solutions, and implications for forensic practice.

About the presenter

Susan Baidawi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at Monash University, where she is Director of Higher Degrees by Research and Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Research Consortium. She has over 15 years' research experience in child and family welfare and criminal justice, and has authored over 70 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and reports to government and industry in these fields. Her research has drawn on Victorian Children's Court data to better understand the characteristics and trajectories of young people with complex support needs, including 'crossover' children who experience dual involvement in child protection and youth justice systems, and 10–13-year-old children charged with offending. Dr Baidawi is the recipient of a prestigious Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (2019-21), funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Commonwealth Disability Royal Commission, and a 2024 Victorian Young Tall Poppy Award from the Australian Institute of Policy & Science.

General event information

This event will be held at Zinc at Fed Square, Cnr Princes Walk &, Russell St Ext, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia. We warmly invite you to join us for canapés and drinks from 5 pm. The presentation will follow at 6:30 pm.

ANZAPPL members - our AGM will be held from 5-5:30 pm.

Registration for our full-day Youth Law symposium grants you free attendance to this lecture.

Contact

Please email us at vic@anzappl.org for more information.