THUG LIFE
In March 2016 a small group of disengaged and lawless Victorian teens, known as the Apex Gang, made national and international headlines when a frightening street riot erupted during Melbourne’s family-friendly Moomba Festival. Three years on, what have we learnt? Some still argue that Melbourne is in the midst of a youth gang crisis and crime wave, others point to a declining crime rate and suggest that a moral panic has evolved in response to disproportionate news reports. In this edited extract from his new book, Melbourne Under Siege?, Dr Brian Williams unravels how the Apex and youth crime situation emerged, takes a historical look at gangs in Australia and why young men and women find being in a ‘gang’ so enticing…
During 2014, a group of dissociated teens, mostly of South Sudanese descent, first formed the so-called Apex Gang, clumsily naming their breakaway mob after their non-descript residential street in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Dandenong. They were soon joined by other like-minded youngsters from a mixture of ethnic backgrounds, including Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and Australian.
The ‘gang’ — if it ever really existed at all — never displayed any of the indicators traditionally associated with such a criminal outfit. It seemingly had no structure or organisation, no formalised leadership and no defined membership. Nor did the group have a clubhouse, a uniform, a set of colours, or even a common purpose. Yet, within a few short years, the loosely defined Apex Gang evidently swelled in numbers and spread its tentacles. It was subsequently joined in the fray by other similar groups such as the YCW (Young Crucified Warriors), Islander 23 and MTS (Menace to Society).
Despite considerable examples of unlawful and antisocial behaviour seemingly modelled on such violent video games as Grand Theft Auto, these gangs mostly flew under the media and public radar until a frightening street riot erupted in the streets of Melbourne in the most publicly exposed way imaginable — during the family-friendly Moomba celebrations in March 2016. The ensuing mayhem, perpetrated by hundreds of swarming supporters of Apex and Islander 23, put Melbourne firmly in the international
