The Nationals’ Member for Mildura, Jade Benham MP, has spoken in Parliament about the failure of welfare systems to protect vulnerable children from being recruited into crime.
Speaking on the Crimes Amendment (Recruitment of Children for Criminal Activity) Bill 2026, Ms Benham reflected on the horrific incident in Mildura last week, in which two 12-year-old children were run down in the Langtree Mall.
“I want to be very clear that what happened in Mildura last week was horrific. But we also need to have the difficult conversations about why vulnerable children are being recruited into crime and why the systems that are supposed to protect them are failing,” Ms Benham said.
“What has become clear through conversations with agencies, carers and members of our community is that vulnerable children are being recruited into crime, paid in drugs and sexually exploited.
“These children have been failed at every turn by the systems that are supposed to protect them, and their carers have been left without the support they need.
“This is a failure across multiple systems, including justice, child protection, social services and education. These systems are supposed to protect vulnerable children and support their carers, but too many children are falling through the gaps.
“By the time they come to the attention of the justice system, they can already be deeply entrenched in a cycle of offending.
“Early intervention cannot start when a child is 11 or 12 years old. When children are committing crimes at this young age, we need to be intervening much earlier.”
Ms Benham said the Bill was well intentioned but needed to be strengthened to prevent organised crime from exploiting loopholes.
“As it is currently written, the Bill risks creating a pyramid scheme. If an adult recruits one child, but that child can then recruit other children, organised crime can simply move down the chain and continue exploiting vulnerable kids.
“The amendments we are proposing would close that loophole and strengthen the legislation so it captures the way organised crime actually operates.
“These are sensible changes that would make this Bill stronger and give it a better chance of protecting vulnerable children from being drawn into a life of crime.”
The contribution in full can be viewed at Crimes Amendment (Recruitment of Children for Criminal Activity) Bill 2026 – 11th August 2026.
