Content warning: This story contains details of a violent attack involving children.

Two boys lost their lives on a suburban street, just metres from one another.

Their deaths have fuelled anger across Victoria as residents questioned the effectiveness of the state’s new machete ban.

Families now mourn while critics argue that metal bins outside police stations were never going to stop the violence.

Dau Akueng, 15, and his 12-year-old friend were attacked on Saturday night while walking home from the local basketball stadium in Cobblebank, 33km west of Melbourne’s CBD.

A trio armed with machetes and long-bladed knives hunted them down, leaving both boys with critical injuries.

They died only metres apart.

Two boys killed in Cobblebank machete attack. Image source: Pexels/kat wilcox | Disclaimer: This is a stock image used for illustrative purposes only and does not depict the actual person, item, or event described.

Initial speculation linked the killings to gang violence, but Dau’s father, Elbino Akueng, dismissed the claims.

‘He is a basketball player, not a criminal,’ he shared.

‘I’m talking right now in behalf of my community... In this month, four kids in similar incidents and there is no answer from police. There is no answer for justice.’

He added: ‘I told the police last night that I need an answer for my son. My son is just gone...like this.’

Mr Akueng described his son as someone who loved basketball, making friends, and joking around.

‘I’ll miss you my son, I will miss you forever. God bless. God bless.’

Police later said the killings were likely a case of mistaken identity.

The backlash over Victoria’s new knife laws intensified after the tragedy, with many venting frustration on social media.

‘I saw this coming miles away. The only ones to benefit the machete ban is (Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan) and her mates who got $13million to build 40 metal bins. Imagine how many Aussie families it could have housed,’ one wrote.

Another said: ‘To the Premier of Victoria, the machete and knife ban continues to work well. Two more kids dead and all you do is place boxes outside police stations.’

‘Boy, that machete ban and the new bail laws are working really well. Another two children hacked to death overnight,’ another added

One person remarked: ‘I’m just shocked these kids didn’t put their machetes in the bins provided and abide by the machete ban announced by the Vic Premier! Shocked! I mean she asked politely.’

The laws, introduced last week, made it illegal to own, use, carry, transport, or sell knives without approval.

Convictions could lead to penalties of up to two years in jail or fines exceeding $47,000.

Over 40 amnesty boxes were placed outside police stations for a three-month period, allowing people to surrender machetes without penalty.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the community must help ‘dry up the supply of machetes’ by handing them in.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan urged parents to act, stressing that children made up 25 per cent of knife-crime offenders in the state.

Exemptions remain for agricultural workers and for machetes with cultural or historical significance.

In 2024, 14,805 edged weapons were seized in Victoria, with another 8,900 confiscated between January and July this year.

Since May, authorities had carried out more than 3,000 inspections across shops, online platforms, and market stalls, finding high levels of compliance.

South Australia enacted a similar ban on machetes and swords in July, placing the two states among the strictest in the country.

The recent machete attack highlights how sudden changes in weapon laws can have unintended consequences.

Similar confusion and frustration have arisen when everyday tools were unexpectedly restricted, affecting people who rely on them daily.

Exploring these situations can provide insight into the challenges of implementing bans effectively.

Read more: Sudden ban hits everyday tools sparks confusion among hobbyists

Key Takeaways

• Two boys, aged 12 and 15, were killed in Cobblebank, west of Melbourne.
• Their deaths sparked anger over Victoria’s newly introduced machete ban.
• Families and critics accused the government of focusing on bins instead of real solutions.
• Police said the attack was likely a case of mistaken identity.

Two young lives were cut short on a walk home, leaving behind grief, questions, and a community demanding justice.

 

[Isis]

I have witnessed numerous instances of these African meatheads playing the violence card and have been a potential victim a couple of times in my time living in the hellhole known as Melbourne.

They strike in numbers which proves they are nothing more than a bunch of gutless cowards, using weapons to conduct home invasions, car jackings, robbery and street violence.

Stand up to them and they run away like scalded cats.

Don't make excuses for them like "they come from a war torn country", "they are financially disadvantaged" or "they have suffered due to a poor upbringing". The problem is the generational mindset of these wannabee gangsters, who purport to be escaping the violence of their home country, only to bring that mindset with them and enact the same behaviour in Australia.

Get rid of the vermin.

Sadly nobody is listening to us, the silent majority. We have no comeback. But anyone addressing this problem at the next election might be a shoo in

 

[meighLeigh]

Not just Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane is pretty bad.
In Sydney we have a war going on and daily shootings by middle eastern groups.

Deportation is really the only answer. And for Australian born tuff prison time not a holiday

The parents migrated to Australia to escape the violence. Their offspring weren't raised to respect Australian laws and customs. Deport the kids at least, and possibly the parents who refused to teach their offspring that our laws and customs were perfectly valid and preferable to what they left!

 

[Rickcb63]

Yes please .

Totally agree with deportations of the whole family !
We don’t want their 3rd world issues arising here in Australia!

Bloody Albo again !!

 

[mOiOz]

So what if it ws a case of mistaken identity they should be held accountable if they carry any of these weapons they are prepared to use them.

Agree, what a ridiculous comment "MISTAKEN IDENTITY" of a 12 & 15 year old?????
The death of EVERY 12 & 15 year old is a MISTAKE!!!

 

[Sherril54]

It's very sad that the lives of two boys this young was taken.

Are their parents 100% that they were not part of a gang. There are photos of these two boys and they are using gang hand signs!!

The authorities need to take a zero tolerance stance of gangs . They need to hire more police before more lives are lost.

I was reading how bad Sudanese gangs are in Melbourne. It needs to be stamped out NOW, including deporting if they were not born in Australia

The boys were Sudanese. The gangs may not be Sudanese why would they kill their own??

 

[Sherril54]

I think we should be asking more questions about this situation and reading the fine print , firstly the boys were Sudanese and by the sound of it were minding their own business and nice kids. It has been assumed that the gang members were of African or Sudanese decent this was not mentioned in the article at all. it just goes to show how people make assumptions about various ethic groups and ready to demonise them. How about the possibility that "A GROUP Of WHITE SUPREMIST GANG MEMBERS" were responsible for the death of these boys that would make more sense to me?

 

[Catherines]

I think we should be asking more questions about this situation and reading the fine print , firstly the boys were Sudanese and by the sound of it were minding their own business and nice kids. It has been assumed that the gang members were of African or Sudanese decent this was not mentioned in the article at all. it just goes to show how people make assumptions about various ethic groups and ready to demonise them. How about the possibility that "A GROUP Of WHITE SUPREMIST GANG MEMBERS" were responsible for the death of these boys that would make more sense to me?

I absolutely agree with your comments. Has it been published ANYWHERE, with absolute truth, that the gang members were Sudanese? I haven’t seen or read that anywhere yet. So ASSUMPTIONS and aggressive comments that “migrants should be sent back to where they came from” is not right for us to post.

It’s some of the youngsters whose parents are neglecting to bring up their children properly, that are doing these assaults, whether that is a white child, or a brown child. Colour should not matter - a person could have a white skin or a brown skin but the tendency seems to be to tar everyone with a dirty ‘migrant’ brush. Education SHOULD start at home and if done properly AT HOME hopefully there would be a lot less crime. Keeping children at home more after school hours and into the wee small hours would go a long way to bringing them up as good citizens; while that does not mean we need to lock them in after school hours there definitely needs to be more parental control in educating their children with what is right and what is wrong.

Fed up with people being tarred by a dirty brush saying “they should be sent back to where they came from”. If they are migrants doing all the crimes in Australia, then I do agree, to a point, that there could be ‘return to your country’ penalties - that becomes hard to do if our government has already granted them citizenship. There is also a saying “walk a mile in my shoes” and sometimes (but not in the case of senseless assaults) that would go a long way to understanding why they commit these crimes. I don’t agree with crimes against people just for the sake of ‘fun’ or a ‘dare’ and hope parents take responsibility for the up-bringing of their children in future; it could very well be their own children who will one day encounter a situation like this in the future where another gang assaults their child.

 

[Sherril54]

I absolutely agree with your comments. Has it been published ANYWHERE, with absolute truth, that the gang members were Sudanese? I haven’t seen or read that anywhere yet. So ASSUMPTIONS and aggressive comments that “migrants should be sent back to where they came from” is not right for us to post.

It’s some of the youngsters whose parents are neglecting to bring up their children properly, that are doing these assaults, whether that is a white child, or a brown child. Colour should not matter - a person could have a white skin or a brown skin but the tendency seems to be to tar everyone with a dirty ‘migrant’ brush. Education SHOULD start at home and if done properly AT HOME hopefully there would be a lot less crime. Keeping children at home more after school hours and into the wee small hours would go a long way to bringing them up as good citizens; while that does not mean we need to lock them in after school hours there definitely needs to be more parental control in educating their children with what is right and what is wrong.

Fed up with people being tarred by a dirty brush saying “they should be sent back to where they came from”. If they are migrants doing all the crimes in Australia, then I do agree, to a point, that there could be ‘return to your country’ penalties - that becomes hard to do if our government has already granted them citizenship. There is also a saying “walk a mile in my shoes” and sometimes (but not in the case of senseless assaults) that would go a long way to understanding why they commit these crimes. I don’t agree with crimes against people just for the sake of ‘fun’ or a ‘dare’ and hope parents take responsibility for the up-bringing of their children in future; it could very well be their own children who will one day encounter a situation like this in the future where another gang assaults their child.

Yes, jumped in with assumptions that the gangs were from migrant families, no young person or anyone in this country should have to deal with this with violence or live in fear. I think we need to have a good hard look at our home grown youth and others born and breed here to see that violence is found everywhere and there are so many contributing factors. Everyday we are faced with a sense or visual of violence from all over the world, which is justified by leaders that are supposed to role models. What about media which gets right off on the worst of human behaviour and so this is the world that we are dealing with and so are our youth, so this is how they deal with conflict and hatred. (We should not assume that it is any one group responsible)

 

[Veggiepatch]

Totally agree with deportations of the whole family !
We don’t want their 3rd world issues arising here in Australia!

Bloody Albo again !!

I didn't know Albanese was PM in the early 1970s when the first scourge of Lebanese and Vietnamese infected these shores.

He would have been still attending St Joseph's Primary School in Camperdown, Sydney!

 

[Leenie]

I didn't know Albanese was PM in the early 1970s when the first scourge of Lebanese and Vietnamese infected these shores.

He would have been still attending St Joseph's Primary School in Camperdown, Sydney!

Stupid Fraser let them in at least the Lebanese after being warned against it .

 

[PepeLePew]

I personally want to know why the parents of these boys thought it was okay for them to be out on the streets by themselves in the first place. Had they have had proper and adequate adult supervision, then this may not have happened.

 

[Suzanne rose]

The boys were Sudanese. The gangs may not be Sudanese why would they kill their own??

There is a large Sudanese gang in the area who are involved in robberies including break and enters and car theft. These boys were stabbed because they are Sudanese!!

 

[Suzanne rose]

Zombie killers’ and the ‘lost boys’ of Melbourne’s warring youth gangs​

Youth crime waves are nothing new. But experts warn street violence has been gamified in the digital age. And it’s escalating, with more kids from middle-class backgrounds involved than ever.
By Sherryn Groch

winning. While teenagers mark key victories on maps, they also argue endlessly about who has racked up the most points. “Only bodies should count as points,” say some.

They’re not talking about a game. This league is playing out on the streets of Melbourne as rival youth gangs go to war. Look closer at those maps and you’ll see that they mark the more than 20 homicides linked to gang violence in the city in the past five years. Nasty injuries are also dutifully logged, a litany of sliced fingers, paralysed limbs and punctured lungs, though most agree those against innocent people – “or civs” – caught in the crossfire don’t count.

The Age spoke to more than a dozen sources working with youth offenders, some on condition of anonymity because of privacy restrictions, and pored through a trove of court documents, social media posts, and footage to gain a picture of how street violence has changed in Melbourne. Increasingly, experts warn, it’s being gamified.

Youth gangs come armed with machetes and hunting knives – marketed online as “zombie killers” – and film themselves cruising through enemy territory in stolen cars to “catch” rival crews.

One 18-year-old who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns says it’s not enough to say you are from the “east or west” of Melbourne in these so-called postcode wars. “If a carload pulls up on you, or you’re on the train, they asking where you from, you got to say the exact suburb now. They all wanna score points.”

As blades whizzed by and Ali snatched away the boy’s fallen machete, the mask fell and he recalled looking at the boy’s face. “They were just kids,” says Ali. “I’d thought they were playing a game at first because they were just kids.”

Youth crime waves are nothing new in Australia. But those on the ground, from forensic psychologists and youth workers to detectives and researchers, say social media means rivalries now play out – and escalate – on a scale not seen before, breeding a new performative subculture of score-settling and live-streamed thrills.

“It’s become a weird new phenomenon,” says Abraham Kuol, a criminology researcher and South Sudanese community leader who helps run mentoring for teens caught up in gang violence. “Usually, you see young people committing crimes for financial gain, to try and get out of their poor circumstances.”

Now each crew is trying to prove they are the most vicious to an audience of thousands online, he says.


The problem in Victoria is not that hordes more teens have suddenly started committing crimes, adds Navin Dhillon, who runs crime prevention programs across the state’s north-west for Youth Support and Advocacy Service. “The problem is that those who do are escalating faster.” Teens with no criminal record will suddenly be arrested over a stabbing.

While Victoria’s rate of youth incarceration is at historically low levels, about 40 per cent of the young people in detention are there for the most violent crimes: murder and manslaughter, government and justice sources confirmed.

Even the drill rap that often serves as a local soundtrack to gang disputes has become more bloody and personal of late, naming names and glorifying in kills. A recent selection of tracks, released by Melbourne’s most prominent gangs and reviewed by this masthead, all reference real stabbings and people. That includes taunts about a teen whose fingers were recently chopped off in a fight and the shooting of a Melbourne rapper last year.

“It’s not drill rap itself, it’s the way lyrics are targeted now, the tallying of points,” says one youth worker. “The guys listen to it, day in, day out, even when they go inside

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‘Zombie killers’ and the ‘lost boys’ of Melbourne’s warring youth gangs​

Youth crime waves are nothing new. But experts warn street violence has been gamified in the digital age. And it’s escalating, with more kids from middle-class backgrounds involved than ever.
By Sherryn Groch
June 15, 2025

Social media posts from youth gang members include footage of apparent car thefts
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Share
Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size
They call it the league and keep score online, but it’s hard to tell who’s winning. While teenagers mark key victories on maps, they also argue endlessly about who has racked up the most points. “Only bodies should count as points,” say some.
They’re not talking about a game. This league is playing out on the streets of Melbourne as rival youth gangs go to war. Look closer at those maps and you’ll see that they mark the more than 20 homicides linked to gang violence in the city in the past five years. Nasty injuries are also dutifully logged, a litany of sliced fingers, paralysed limbs and punctured lungs, though most agree those against innocent people – “or civs” – caught in the crossfire don’t count.
The Age spoke to more than a dozen sources working with youth offenders, some on condition of anonymity because of privacy restrictions, and pored through a trove of court documents, social media posts, and footage to gain a picture of how street violence has changed in Melbourne. Increasingly, experts warn, it’s being gamified.
Youth gangs come armed with machetes and hunting knives – marketed online as “zombie killers” – and film themselves cruising through enemy territory in stolen cars to “catch” rival crews.
One 18-year-old who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns says it’s not enough to say you are from the “east or west” of Melbourne in these so-called postcode wars. “If a carload pulls up on you, or you’re on the train, they asking where you from, you got to say the exact suburb now. They all wanna score points.”

Gang members have posted footage speeding in stolen cars and attacking rivals with machetes, often with many teens swarming a single victim on the ground.
At least one of the teens arrested for the violent brawl at the Northland shopping centre in Melbourne last month had his face covered as he drew his machete from a sheath. “He looked like something out of Mortal Kombat,” says witness Ali, who was in line for sushi when he found himself leaping in to break up the fray with other bystanders.
Advertisement

As blades whizzed by and Ali snatched away the boy’s fallen machete, the mask fell and he recalled looking at the boy’s face. “They were just kids,” says Ali. “I’d thought they were playing a game at first because they were just kids.”
Youth crime waves are nothing new in Australia. But those on the ground, from forensic psychologists and youth workers to detectives and researchers, say social media means rivalries now play out – and escalate – on a scale not seen before, breeding a new performative subculture of score-settling and live-streamed thrills.
“It’s become a weird new phenomenon,” says Abraham Kuol, a criminology researcher and South Sudanese community leader who helps run mentoring for teens caught up in gang violence. “Usually, you see young people committing crimes for financial gain, to try and get out of their poor circumstances.”
Now each crew is trying to prove they are the most vicious to an audience of thousands online, he says.

Criminology researcher and South Sudanese community leader Abraham Kuol says gang violence is escalating but there are still ways to reach kids caught up in it.Credit:Wayne Taylor
The problem in Victoria is not that hordes more teens have suddenly started committing crimes, adds Navin Dhillon, who runs crime prevention programs across the state’s north-west for Youth Support and Advocacy Service. “The problem is that those who do are escalating faster.” Teens with no criminal record will suddenly be arrested over a stabbing.
While Victoria’s rate of youth incarceration is at historically low levels, about 40 per cent of the young people in detention are there for the most violent crimes: murder and manslaughter, government and justice sources confirmed.
Advertisement

Even the drill rap that often serves as a local soundtrack to gang disputes has become more bloody and personal of late, naming names and glorifying in kills. A recent selection of tracks, released by Melbourne’s most prominent gangs and reviewed by this masthead, all reference real stabbings and people. That includes taunts about a teen whose fingers were recently chopped off in a fight and the shooting of a Melbourne rapper last year.
“It’s not drill rap itself, it’s the way lyrics are targeted now, the tallying of points,” says one youth worker. “The guys listen to it, day in, day out, even when they go inside.”

Most of the young people caught up in gangs are among the state’s most vulnerable, often bounced around refuges and foster care, looking for somewhere to belong. But youth workers say a new kind of gang member has also emerged in the past five years: teens from relatively stable, middle-class households swept up in the online infamy and lifestyle.
They now number among the 200-odd repeat offenders police say are driving Victoria’s youth crime wave, government sources confirmed. But, unlike kids from disadvantage, they are much more likely to get support to leave the lifestyle faster, says Kuol.
A government source not authorised to speak publicly recalled watching one of the most prolific young burglars in Victoria win bail as his wealthy parents spoke up for him in court. “But for other kids, mum doesn’t even show,” says a youth worker. “No one shows.”

In recent months, the Allan government has banned machetes and drastically toughened bail laws and youth sentencing, in an attempt to stop the “revolving door” of teen offenders before the courts. But machete violence is continuing to spill out onto streets, and frontline services warn of dwindling funding for early intervention and school support.

Meanwhile, gangland bosses are circling, recruiting more young guns looking for street cred through “freelance crime” – dangerous jobs like shootings, home invasions and firebombings.

Not all the teens committing these crimes are in gangs. “But the young ones don’t care if they get caught,” says Kuol.

This masthead found teens known to have been charged with gang violence streaming videos online from inside stolen cars, speeding down freeways in masks and gloves, and clutching piles of cash. Graphic footage of machete slashings and stabbings against rival gang members are regularly posted on forums as crews compare points in the league, including, on at least one occasion, footage of a dead body.

Disorganised crime​

Former detective Vince Hurley says youth gangs don’t have the discipline or longevity of the major organised crime groups he spent his career infiltrating and investigating.

“They’re like fireworks, shooting for stardom, and then they explode and fizzle out pretty fast.”

Their names and memberships often shift, as they form allegiances – or split in two. That makes them volatile, and hard to police.

While some gangs might run drugs at street level or steal high-end cars for organised crime, most have no major connection to the big syndicates. Violence tends to revolve around “beefs” between rival postcode crews, not illicit business.

“It’s almost like disorganised crime,” says one investigator. “It’s hard to track.”

 

[Sherril54]

Zombie killers’ and the ‘lost boys’ of Melbourne’s warring youth gangs​

Youth crime waves are nothing new. But experts warn street violence has been gamified in the digital age. And it’s escalating, with more kids from middle-class backgrounds involved than ever.
By Sherryn Groch

winning. While teenagers mark key victories on maps, they also argue endlessly about who has racked up the most points. “Only bodies should count as points,” say some.

They’re not talking about a game. This league is playing out on the streets of Melbourne as rival youth gangs go to war. Look closer at those maps and you’ll see that they mark the more than 20 homicides linked to gang violence in the city in the past five years. Nasty injuries are also dutifully logged, a litany of sliced fingers, paralysed limbs and punctured lungs, though most agree those against innocent people – “or civs” – caught in the crossfire don’t count.

The Age spoke to more than a dozen sources working with youth offenders, some on condition of anonymity because of privacy restrictions, and pored through a trove of court documents, social media posts, and footage to gain a picture of how street violence has changed in Melbourne. Increasingly, experts warn, it’s being gamified.

Youth gangs come armed with machetes and hunting knives – marketed online as “zombie killers” – and film themselves cruising through enemy territory in stolen cars to “catch” rival crews.

One 18-year-old who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns says it’s not enough to say you are from the “east or west” of Melbourne in these so-called postcode wars. “If a carload pulls up on you, or you’re on the train, they asking where you from, you got to say the exact suburb now. They all wanna score points.”

As blades whizzed by and Ali snatched away the boy’s fallen machete, the mask fell and he recalled looking at the boy’s face. “They were just kids,” says Ali. “I’d thought they were playing a game at first because they were just kids.”

Youth crime waves are nothing new in Australia. But those on the ground, from forensic psychologists and youth workers to detectives and researchers, say social media means rivalries now play out – and escalate – on a scale not seen before, breeding a new performative subculture of score-settling and live-streamed thrills.

“It’s become a weird new phenomenon,” says Abraham Kuol, a criminology researcher and South Sudanese community leader who helps run mentoring for teens caught up in gang violence. “Usually, you see young people committing crimes for financial gain, to try and get out of their poor circumstances.”

Now each crew is trying to prove they are the most vicious to an audience of thousands online, he says.


The problem in Victoria is not that hordes more teens have suddenly started committing crimes, adds Navin Dhillon, who runs crime prevention programs across the state’s north-west for Youth Support and Advocacy Service. “The problem is that those who do are escalating faster.” Teens with no criminal record will suddenly be arrested over a stabbing.

While Victoria’s rate of youth incarceration is at historically low levels, about 40 per cent of the young people in detention are there for the most violent crimes: murder and manslaughter, government and justice sources confirmed.

Even the drill rap that often serves as a local soundtrack to gang disputes has become more bloody and personal of late, naming names and glorifying in kills. A recent selection of tracks, released by Melbourne’s most prominent gangs and reviewed by this masthead, all reference real stabbings and people. That includes taunts about a teen whose fingers were recently chopped off in a fight and the shooting of a Melbourne rapper last year.

“It’s not drill rap itself, it’s the way lyrics are targeted now, the tallying of points,” says one youth worker. “The guys listen to it, day in, day out, even when they go inside

Open NavigationMenu

The Age​

Log in

• ​

• ​

Advertisement

• Crime

‘Zombie killers’ and the ‘lost boys’ of Melbourne’s warring youth gangs​

Youth crime waves are nothing new. But experts warn street violence has been gamified in the digital age. And it’s escalating, with more kids from middle-class backgrounds involved than ever.
By Sherryn Groch
June 15, 2025

Social media posts from youth gang members include footage of apparent car thefts
Save

​

Share
Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size
They call it the league and keep score online, but it’s hard to tell who’s winning. While teenagers mark key victories on maps, they also argue endlessly about who has racked up the most points. “Only bodies should count as points,” say some.
They’re not talking about a game. This league is playing out on the streets of Melbourne as rival youth gangs go to war. Look closer at those maps and you’ll see that they mark the more than 20 homicides linked to gang violence in the city in the past five years. Nasty injuries are also dutifully logged, a litany of sliced fingers, paralysed limbs and punctured lungs, though most agree those against innocent people – “or civs” – caught in the crossfire don’t count.
The Age spoke to more than a dozen sources working with youth offenders, some on condition of anonymity because of privacy restrictions, and pored through a trove of court documents, social media posts, and footage to gain a picture of how street violence has changed in Melbourne. Increasingly, experts warn, it’s being gamified.
Youth gangs come armed with machetes and hunting knives – marketed online as “zombie killers” – and film themselves cruising through enemy territory in stolen cars to “catch” rival crews.
One 18-year-old who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns says it’s not enough to say you are from the “east or west” of Melbourne in these so-called postcode wars. “If a carload pulls up on you, or you’re on the train, they asking where you from, you got to say the exact suburb now. They all wanna score points.”

Gang members have posted footage speeding in stolen cars and attacking rivals with machetes, often with many teens swarming a single victim on the ground.
At least one of the teens arrested for the violent brawl at the Northland shopping centre in Melbourne last month had his face covered as he drew his machete from a sheath. “He looked like something out of Mortal Kombat,” says witness Ali, who was in line for sushi when he found himself leaping in to break up the fray with other bystanders.
Advertisement

As blades whizzed by and Ali snatched away the boy’s fallen machete, the mask fell and he recalled looking at the boy’s face. “They were just kids,” says Ali. “I’d thought they were playing a game at first because they were just kids.”
Youth crime waves are nothing new in Australia. But those on the ground, from forensic psychologists and youth workers to detectives and researchers, say social media means rivalries now play out – and escalate – on a scale not seen before, breeding a new performative subculture of score-settling and live-streamed thrills.
“It’s become a weird new phenomenon,” says Abraham Kuol, a criminology researcher and South Sudanese community leader who helps run mentoring for teens caught up in gang violence. “Usually, you see young people committing crimes for financial gain, to try and get out of their poor circumstances.”
Now each crew is trying to prove they are the most vicious to an audience of thousands online, he says.

Criminology researcher and South Sudanese community leader Abraham Kuol says gang violence is escalating but there are still ways to reach kids caught up in it.Credit:Wayne Taylor
The problem in Victoria is not that hordes more teens have suddenly started committing crimes, adds Navin Dhillon, who runs crime prevention programs across the state’s north-west for Youth Support and Advocacy Service. “The problem is that those who do are escalating faster.” Teens with no criminal record will suddenly be arrested over a stabbing.
While Victoria’s rate of youth incarceration is at historically low levels, about 40 per cent of the young people in detention are there for the most violent crimes: murder and manslaughter, government and justice sources confirmed.
Advertisement

Even the drill rap that often serves as a local soundtrack to gang disputes has become more bloody and personal of late, naming names and glorifying in kills. A recent selection of tracks, released by Melbourne’s most prominent gangs and reviewed by this masthead, all reference real stabbings and people. That includes taunts about a teen whose fingers were recently chopped off in a fight and the shooting of a Melbourne rapper last year.
“It’s not drill rap itself, it’s the way lyrics are targeted now, the tallying of points,” says one youth worker. “The guys listen to it, day in, day out, even when they go inside.”

Most of the young people caught up in gangs are among the state’s most vulnerable, often bounced around refuges and foster care, looking for somewhere to belong. But youth workers say a new kind of gang member has also emerged in the past five years: teens from relatively stable, middle-class households swept up in the online infamy and lifestyle.
They now number among the 200-odd repeat offenders police say are driving Victoria’s youth crime wave, government sources confirmed. But, unlike kids from disadvantage, they are much more likely to get support to leave the lifestyle faster, says Kuol.
A government source not authorised to speak publicly recalled watching one of the most prolific young burglars in Victoria win bail as his wealthy parents spoke up for him in court. “But for other kids, mum doesn’t even show,” says a youth worker. “No one shows.”

In recent months, the Allan government has banned machetes and drastically toughened bail laws and youth sentencing, in an attempt to stop the “revolving door” of teen offenders before the courts. But machete violence is continuing to spill out onto streets, and frontline services warn of dwindling funding for early intervention and school support.

Meanwhile, gangland bosses are circling, recruiting more young guns looking for street cred through “freelance crime” – dangerous jobs like shootings, home invasions and firebombings.

Not all the teens committing these crimes are in gangs. “But the young ones don’t care if they get caught,” says Kuol.

This masthead found teens known to have been charged with gang violence streaming videos online from inside stolen cars, speeding down freeways in masks and gloves, and clutching piles of cash. Graphic footage of machete slashings and stabbings against rival gang members are regularly posted on forums as crews compare points in the league, including, on at least one occasion, footage of a dead body.

Disorganised crime​

Former detective Vince Hurley says youth gangs don’t have the discipline or longevity of the major organised crime groups he spent his career infiltrating and investigating.

“They’re like fireworks, shooting for stardom, and then they explode and fizzle out pretty fast.”

Their names and memberships often shift, as they form allegiances – or split in two. That makes them volatile, and hard to police.

While some gangs might run drugs at street level or steal high-end cars for organised crime, most have no major connection to the big syndicates. Violence tends to revolve around “beefs” between rival postcode crews, not illicit business.

“It’s almost like disorganised crime,” says one investigator. “It’s hard to track.”

Thanks for this info Suzanne and so worrying, it seems like these kids do not value life at all.

 

[Gunpark]

I was a John Howard fan until he introduced his gun laws and destroyed a lot of valuable history and achieved absolutely nothing, which a lot of us said would happen. Criminals will always get weapons as sure as the sun rises. If the person is not an Australian citizen, then them and their family next plane back to where they came from, no ifs or buts.

 

[Catherines]

The parents migrated to Australia to escape the violence. Their offspring weren't raised to respect Australian laws and customs. Deport the kids at least, and possibly the parents who refused to teach their offspring that our laws and customs were perfectly valid and preferable to what they left!

Just a question. You say, quote: “The parents migrated to Australia to escape the violence. Their offspring weren't raised to respect Australian laws and customs.”. How do you know your information is correct, especially your second sentence? These two boys who were killed in this violent attack were, as I have noted, SUDANESE; what nationality were their attackers - Sudanese or Australian? Please clarify this last question WITH ACCURATE, CONFIRMED information, NOT YOUR ASSUMPTION.

I’d be interested to know where you got all the information from or are you putting your own spin on this? I understand a number of the attackers were AUSTRALIAN. Does that give them any right to attack another just because they see them as ‘migrants’? If attackers are Australian (in ANY violence situation) then aren’t they just as much the perpetrators, and guilty of the violent attacks and then, above all, the violent WHITE population? Please stop constantly assuming every attack is done by a ‘migrant’ who has come here to escape violence in their birth country.

I have 3 grown-up children (now 57, 54 & 50) who were brought up to respect people and their possessions and they never attacked anyone in their childhood, their teen years, or beyond. Parental control and up-bringing are crucial from day 1, and it’s our responsibility as parents to TEACH them not just to HAVE them. There are many commenters on this site that need bringing up themselves.

 

[Sherril54]

Just a question. You say, quote: “The parents migrated to Australia to escape the violence. Their offspring weren't raised to respect Australian laws and customs.”. How do you know your information is correct, especially your second sentence? These two boys who were killed in this violent attack were, as I have noted, SUDANESE; what nationality were their attackers - Sudanese or Australian? Please clarify this last question WITH ACCURATE, CONFIRMED information, NOT YOUR ASSUMPTION.

I’d be interested to know where you got all the information from or are you putting your own spin on this? I understand a number of the attackers were AUSTRALIAN. Does that give them any right to attack another just because they see them as ‘migrants’? If attackers are Australian (in ANY violence situation) then aren’t they just as much the perpetrators, and guilty of the violent attacks and then, above all, the violent WHITE population? Please stop constantly assuming every attack is done by a ‘migrant’ who has come here to escape violence in their birth country.

I have 3 grown-up children (now 57, 54 & 50) who were brought up to respect people and their possessions and they never attacked anyone in their childhood, their teen years, or beyond. Parental control and up-bringing are crucial from day 1, and it’s our responsibility as parents to TEACH them not just to HAVE them. There are many commenters on this site that need bringing up themselves.

Yes it is a worry that there is a broad assumption that so many social problems are migrant or race related.