Where are these kids' parents?
It is a common refrain in youth crime conversations but in many cases, children who run afoul of the law fall under the care of the state.
Premier Jacinta Allan unveiled tougher bail laws this week to quell rising community anxiety after youth crime offences in Victoria hit a 15-year high.
The state government was not just responsible for community safety, Anglicare Victoria chief executive Paul McDonald said.
"In many cases, they are the legal guardian of these children being caught up in the youth justice system," he told AAP.
Almost two out of three young people in the justice system across the nation in 2022/23 had previous contact with child protection in the past decade, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows.
Some 45 per cent of young people in community-based supervision and 50 per cent in detention were also the subject of a substantiated report of abuse or neglect.
Anglicare Victoria is the largest provider of out-of-home care for children and young people in the state.
Mr McDonald suggested the Allan government had only done half the job with its plans to target repeat youth offenders with more punitive bail measures.
"In a two-limb policy approach, it's missing one of the limbs," he said.
"The Victorian government has in their view addressed the community safety concerns but, as legal guardian, you can't walk away from that responsibility."
Ms Allan did not announce extra preventative funding to go along with the legislative reforms, expected to come before parliament as early as Tuesday, but it hasn't been ruled out.
Her government hasn't shown an equivalent sense of concern and investment in ensuring young people don't get "trapped" by the tightened bail laws, Mr McDonald argued.
"What the public don't quite appreciate is what we're asking for is the state to do the same as what parents do every day," he said.
"These young people also need chances and opportunity ... we don't have to have the only tool in our toolkit being the hammer and the nail."
Almost four out of five children held in detention on an average day in 2023 were unsentenced, according to an Australian Human Rights Commission report.
Without the investment, Mr McDonald predicts remand numbers in the state will double after the beefed-up bail laws are implemented.
