What's behind an increase in gang membership?

According to the National Gang List, there were 10,478 people registered in February 2026, which is an increase of around 6.5% from the year before.

The Police Minister’s office confirmed there were 10,475 sworn officers in February - meaning gang members outnumbered staff narrowly. 

The number attracted headlines, largely because it appeared contrary to the government’s ‘tough on crime approach’.

However, sociologist and gang expert Professor Jarrod Gilbert had doubts over the figures. 

"The gang list... was initially devised for police intelligence... for that purpose, it’s extremely good. For an actual count, I'm certainly unsure that it's fit for purpose."

He believed it was actually now harder to get a good grasp on numbers because of the ban on gang patches. 

"I thought we would have seen the gang list either grow far more slowly or even potentially decline because of the patch ban…it's much harder to count gang membership now.”

Police Association President Steve Watt was disappointed by the news. 

"What it does show is that there’s more work that needs to be done to make gang membership unattractive for those that are looking to join them."

"When we’re seeing gang numbers increase, that means that there’s more crime out there in the communities.”

Watt believed something needed to change, and suggested perhaps a change in tack was needed.

 "It may be that we need a change of focus or perhaps a change of resource in order to target gangs a bit harder and try and really knock those numbers of people joining gangs."

Despite believing the police do a fantastic job with gangs, Gilbert believed the problem was a symptom of wider societal problems. 

"The gang issue is far broader than the police... we see it as a law and order problem, and then we wonder why we don’t get to the bottom of it. That’s because the police never will be able to."

“Gangs aren’t an aberration of an otherwise healthy society; they are the direct outcome of certain social and economic conditions … unless we tackle those issues and give young people the tools and the opportunities to find a pro-social direction, they'll choose an anti-social direction. That’s just inevitable."

"Intergenerational unemployment, educational failure, poor health outcomes... all these usual suspects."

He went on to mention that when conditions are tough, making money through criminal means can become far more attractive. 

"In more recent times, it’s become a vocation for many rebellious young men where dealing in methamphetamine can make a lot of money, and so that makes the gangs more attractive."

For example, in 2024, methamphetamine levels in wastewater testing doubled across the country, indicating a large growth in use.

Steve Watt believed that to deal with the problem, a continual balance needed to be struck between community outreach and enforcement. 

“There is a balance in dealing with gang members, and police have got a lot of that balance right through the resilience to organised crime groups, they're liaising with gangs and members and getting inroads in that way."

“But there's certainly a need for that harder and faster approach as well. We need both approaches in order to make this work and reduce those numbers."