"A lot of our young people prefer custody rather than their home life."
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That was the stark reality painted by Bourke Youth Justice case worker Samara Milgate on Tuesday.
Ms Milgate was speaking at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into community safety into regional and rural communities.
The inquiry is looking into the drivers of youth crime in the region, as well as specific actions the NSW government can take to support best practice prevention initiatives and improve community safety.
Bourke Youth Justice case worker Vivianne Price said for some of the young offenders in Boruke, there were "a lot of challenges and vulnerabilities within the home base", from having to couch surf to domestic violence.
"When we say they thrive in juvie here, it's because they don't have those challenges in there. It's a more structured, supported environment," she said.
If a young person is given bail and doesn't have anywhere to go, the only option is for them to be held in custody until somewhere appropriate can be found for them to live.
More emergency accommodation and more bail accommodation are needed so the young offenders don't have to "have that feel of what it looks like on the inside" when they're forced to be held in custody with nowhere to go, Ms Price said.
Ms Price said it could also be difficult for the families and the young offenders to navigate through the system because of poor literacy and numeracy skills, as well as a distrust of authorities.
"Police are stepping outside their normal roles to build a relationship with these kids but then you have the history come back from the family influence that have been projected onto the younger people," she said.
She called for more cultural therapeutic models of support.
Bourke PCYC club manager Rozaria Suckling told the inquiry children were wandering the streets at night to escape their violent home environments.
"Honestly, there's nothing we can do to help these kids," she said.
In the submission to the inquiry, Bourke mayor Barry Holman wrote about two young people who walked into the local police station at 6am on Saturday morning and asked for a lift home.
"The police apparently asked where they had been all night with the response being along the lines that they had been wandering Bourke all night because it was safer than being at home," he said.
While there was "significant funding" being allocated to government and non-government agencies to work with the "dysfunctional families", Cr Holman said the resources weren't being appropriately allocated.
The inquiry's first hearings started at Bourke on Tuesday, followed by Broken Hill on Wednesday.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows property and violent crime rates are more than 50 per cent higher in regional NSW than Sydney.
NSW Nationals leader and Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said communities were finally getting a chance to share their stories around crime and contribute to possible solutions.
"Although this is a good start, I would like to see this inquiry expanded as soon as possible to visit more areas across the regions, because a cookie-cutter approach won't work. Every community is different and will need slightly different approaches," he said.
It's not yet known where other inquiry hearings will be held.
Orlander Ruming
Writing for Central Western Daily, Daily Liberal and Western Advocate.
