Children as young as eight ‘out on the streets’ due to domestic violence, Queensland inquiry hears

Perri Conti, a Cairnes resident, says children are committing crimes in order to get basic necessities that are not being provided by child safety workers. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Two north Queensland mayors say children as young as eight are roaming the streets at night due to a lack of safety at home, amid a 15% rise in reported domestic violence cases across the state.

Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry into proposed youth crime laws – including a heavily criticised attempt to make breach of bail an offence for children – the mayor of Cairns regional council, Bob Manning, said many young offenders have an unsafe home environment.