Posting and boasting about car thefts or break-ins will become a crime in NSW as the state rolls out changes that will lead to more children behind bars.
Bail laws will also be strengthened to include a temporary, extra bail test for older children charged with certain serious offences while they are already before the courts on similar allegations.
But the proposal has been slammed as likely leading to more children - particularly Indigenous youths - being trapped behind bars.
Premier Chris Minns acknowledged the proposed changes would result in increased incarceration rates.
"Our hope is that in the long run, with intervention and support that (incarceration rate) changes but I'm being transparent about it," he said on Tuesday.
The proposed legal shift will mean police and the judiciary will need to have a "high degree of confidence" young people aged between 14 and 18 will not commit a further serious break-and-enter or car theft while on bail.
A 12-month sunset clause will apply to the overhaul to allow the changes to be reviewed.
A new offence will be created for the act of "posting and boasting", adding an extra penalty of two years for anyone who steals a vehicle or commits a break-in and also shares material to advertise the crime.
The so-called "performance crime" could encourage others - particularly young people - to commit similar acts.
"There's strong circumstantial evidence provided to the government by NSW Police that this exhibition-like behaviour is in fact encouraging further and repeated criminal behaviour," Mr Minns said.
But Greens MP Sue Higginson said the proposed changes were a knee-jerk reaction.
"No one wants to see young people engaging in crime but all of the evidence before us shows tougher, punitive measures do not reduce the incidence of crime," she said.
"It just further traumatises the kids and damages social cohesion."
Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Karly Warner said the overhaul of bail laws was dangerous and would fail to reduce crime rates.
"Locking up children has never worked and will lead to devastating outcomes for communities, families and those children," she said.
"Throwing our children in jail will actually make crime worse, not better."
The premier said mayors, police and members of the public had called for more to be done to tackle crime, particularly in regional areas.
A separate pilot program will run in the northern NSW town of Moree, where $13.4 million will be spent on provisions such as extra judicial resources, the Aboriginal Legal Service and a bail accommodation and support service for young people.
Another $12.9 million will be spent on regional measures state-wide, including an expansion of youth action meetings and Aboriginal youth patrols in several locations.
Youth crime rates have risen statewide over the two years to September but are largely steady over a five-year timeframe, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Property offences in regional areas - which generally have adult and youth crime rates higher than the state's cities - have also gone up over the past two years but are down over the longer period.
The Country Mayors Association of NSW has complained that residents in regional and rural areas were more likely to be sexually assaulted, have their cars stolen or homes broken into than city dwellers.
Australian Associated Press
