Laura Chipp believes she has some inside knowledge that’ll give her an edge in an election campaign on law and order.

But the daughter of Democrats founder Don Chipp, who famously vowed to “keep the bastards honest”, will not run on a platform of cracking down on youth crime at the November state election.

Instead, she will use experience gained in her day job as managing principal lawyer of the Children’s Court prosecutions unit with Victoria Police to argue that throwing the book at young offenders does not improve community safety.

Laura Chipp is contesting the Victorian election in the upper house. She now works for the police in youth justice prosecutions, which will be a major election theme. Credit:Jason South

Ms Chipp is standing as a candidate for Fiona Patten’s Reason Party — previously known as the Sex Party — in the upper house district of South Eastern Metro.