While TikTok has been implicated in elements of the youth crime crisis in a number of remote Australian towns over the past few years, one group of young leaders in Western Australia's far north hope the app can be a force for change.
The Ay! What Now TikTok campaign has seen a group of Kimberley locals putting their best acting skills to the test by creating TikToks to share legal rights information as well as the risks involved in criminal activity.
It comes after police investigated a spike in videos being posted on the social media platform by Kimberley kids filming themselves committing alleged crimes.
In 2022, children in the Kimberley were involved in almost a third of police assault charges, with the state government committing to establishing an on-country juvenile justice facility in the region.
To address the issue, Legal Aid launched its TikTok account to teach kids about their legal rights.
The page has over 5,000 followers and has amassed more than 34,000 likes on its videos so far.
West Kimberley Magistrate Deen Potter said the videos were an innovative way to teach kids about their legal rights.
"In a very short space of time at least one video has had over 120,000 views," he said.
"[It] provides some evidence that social media platforms can be powerful tools, dwarfing other forms of direct communication and which can be used for educative and insightful purposes."
Emrick, a 16-year-old local, starred in some of the TikToks and said he enjoyed getting out of his comfort zone.
"I thought it was a great way to connect to the younger community and talk about the problems with underage robbery and all those problems that they may face," he said.
Humour resonates with youth
Legal Aid WA's First Nations services coordinator Michelle Sims said TikTok's engaging format drew interest from the youth.
"It's a fun and positive way to reach young people with important preventative legal messaging," she said.
"The videos cover a lot of issues like criminal responsibility, things that are illegal, how you might get into trouble by being part of crime, and your legal rights when dealing with police."
The creative forces behind the project are artist Molly Hunt and hip-hop artist Dallas Woods, who both hail from the East Kimberley.
Legal Aid WA's First Nations staff, the Aboriginal Family Legal Service (AFLS), Kimberley Community Legal Services, youth justice services, and the Kimberley district's WA Police youth liaison officers have also made key contributions.
Broome youth support officer with the Department of Justice, Keifer Yu, said youth in the Kimberley could be taken advantage of as juveniles and the new videos gave them an opportunity to better understand their rights.
"It's a bit of education and showing kids that there's other things out there that you can be doing that's fun rather than stealing cars and getting that adrenaline, like taking them back to culture, and showing them stuff like that," he said.
Sharing their perspective
AFLS community engagement worker Mary Lane said the kids involved in the project now identified actions leading to conviction and discussed the videos with their friends.
"I think they've actually had a lot of fun. A lot of education has come out of this and it reduces all of that shame factor about talking to others and spreading the word," she said.
Ms Lane said it was difficult for people to understand why disengaged kids committed crimes and the campaign provided the youth an opportunity to share their perspective on the issue.
"It's also giving a voice for these young people to say, 'We're not all alike, how the media portrays us or people portray us'," she said.
