Children in far west NSW as young as nine-years-old are taking illegal drugs and then getting caught up in the criminal justice system, an ongoing crime inquiry has heard.
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Mission Australia far west NSW team leader Erin Reberger said the drugs circulating among young people in the far west was "quite scary".
"A lot of the young people are experimenting with substances like cocaine and ketamine. That's really big in our area. They're both really heavy-duty substances that combined together can be quite fatal," she said.
Ms Reberger was speaking at the Broken Hill hearing of the NSW parliamentary inquiry into community safety in regional and rural areas.
She spoke about young people turning to drugs because poverty was preventing them from accessing sport and community activities.
"So they're engaging in drug taking, risk-taking behaviours and crime. It has been a real change in the trajectory of the drug use, and the young people are starting to use things like cocaine and ice," Ms Reberger.
Mission Australia runs the only alcohol and drug support services in the far west. It also operates the Mac River Centre in Dubbo, which is for young people experiencing chronic drug and alcohol issues.
Overall, the not-for-profit works with young young people from 12 to 18, as well as young adults from 18 to 24.
But Ms Reberger said there was still a stigma when it came to young people accessing drug and alcohol services because "they know they're going to get into trouble".
However, for young people, the stigma is only one hurdle.
Mission Australia central and far west NSW area manager Megan Boshell said there were no medially-supervised detox facilities available for young people who were under 16-years-old.
"I've been told by NSW Health staff before that a young person who is 14 who is addicted to ice can't possibly be using ice enough that they need to detox. That's why they don't do it," she said.
Ms Boshell said she worked with a "huge number" of young people who were offending because it was the quickest way to access rehabilitation.
"I've had young people call me from inside custody to say, "I've breached my bail, can I come to Mac River now?"" she said.
"The process to support a young person to detox is so complex and so difficult, and it absolutely needs to be medically supervised. So it's not as easy as saying, "come to Mac River, you can detox here. That's not safe. That's not appropriate."
She said there were also issues with the young people detoxing at home because other family members were using illicit substances as well.
Ms Reberger said for some of the older youths they worked with at Mission Australia it's clear to see if they had been able to access help when they were 12 or 13-years-old they wouldn't have been as involved with the criminal justice system.
She said drugs and alcohol were part of a much larger problem and people were potentially using them to self-mediate to escape from domestic violence and complex trauma.
The NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into community safety into regional and rural communities 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.
The next hearing will be held in Kempsey.
Orlander Ruming
Writing for Central Western Daily, Daily Liberal and Western Advocate.
