More than half the state’s young gang violence is being carried out in Melbourne’s north-west with 11 children killed with knives in the past decade.

Police say close to 350 young gang members were operating in the area as of mid-2023 with many coming from migrant communities and motivated to join for protection from abusive families, local bullies and social connection.

A coroner’s report has exposed the shocking level of knife crime in Victoria which has been linked to 245 homicides between January 1, 2014 and September 10, 2025.

While most involved adults, 18 children were killed and 29 of the knife homicides were committed by children.

Of those children killed, 11 were gang-related and nine of those were from migrant communities.

Coroner Ingrid Giles unearthed the figures as part

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