NSW unveils tougher penalties and tech boost to curb gang violence

Following the recent mistaken-identity killings of university student Marco Tapia and Joshua Macdonald, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns unveiled a suite of legislative changes aimed at dismantling gang-related violence. The reforms introduce new aggravated offences for conspiracy and attempted murder, raising the top penalty from 25 years to life imprisonment, and grant courts the power to issue urgent interim orders restricting a suspect's movements, contacts and device access.

Serious children’s indictable offences will be expanded to cover organised-crime activities such as public shootings and fire-bombings, meaning youths charged with these crimes could face adult courts and penalties. Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon warned that underworld figures are hiring minors for low pay to carry out killings. To support enforcement, the state will allocate $15 million to upgrade police technology for cracking encrypted communications used by criminal networks. The government hopes the combined legal and technological approach will prevent future gang attacks rather than merely responding after the fact.