Children are being paid as little as $5000 to steal cars for Sydney’s organised crime networks, as the NSW Government unveils sweeping new laws aimed at cracking down on gang violence.

The reforms target so-called “kill cars”, public shootings, firebombings and the recruitment of children into organised crime, amid escalating concerns over Sydney’s gang wars.

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NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said criminal gangs were using encrypted apps and devices to recruit young people to carry out offences on their behalf.

“These kids don’t even know who they’re dealing with,” Catley told Sunrise on Wednesday.

Catley revealed some children were being offered only “a small amount of money” to commit crimes, including around $5000 for stealing a car.

“We want to target the handlers. We want to target the kingpins, and we want to put them behind bars,” she said.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said criminal gangs were using encrypted apps and devices to recruit young people to carry out offences on their behalf. Credit: Sunrise

Under the proposed laws, recruiting a child to engage in criminal activity would carry a maximum penalty of 12 years’ imprisonment, increasing to 15 years if the child is under 16.

A new aggravated offence punishable by up to 15 years’ jail would also apply when a child is recruited to steal cars or commit serious organised crime offences.

The Government is also introducing tougher penalties for “kill cars”, stolen vehicles fitted with cloned number plates and often torched after being used in crimes.

A new aggravated offence for destroying a vehicle by fire after it has been used in serious offences, including firearms supply, drug trafficking and illicit tobacco crime, would carry a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison.

Catley said the people of Sydney were “sick to death” of criminal gangs “playing out their vendettas” in public.

“We can see that it’s incredibly dangerous, obviously, and we don’t want innocent people to get caught up in all of that,” she said.

Additional measures include tougher penalties for public shootings and firebombings, expanded police powers to access encrypted devices, stronger proceeds of crime laws and tighter bail rules for serious organised crime offences.