Victims of crime warning over raising criminal responsibility age

The youth justice system “wraps” around the kids committing crimes, victims say – as SA debates a massive change to young offenders.

Victims of crime will not support any increase in the age of criminal responsibility unless their rights are maintained and other safeguards are introduced to protect the community, the state’s chief victims’ advocate has warned.

The safeguards included ensuring there were still legal sanctions against recidivist juveniles and resources were significantly boosted in child welfare agencies so police did not become “de facto carers’’ for offending children.

And even if these measures were enshrined in any proposed legislative change, Commissioner For Victims’ Rights Bronwyn Killmier will only support raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years – not the proposed age of 14 years.

“Putting children as young as 10 years in police cells is extreme and no-one wants to see that, not even victims,’’ Ms Killmier said.

“There should be a different way of handling them, there needs to be a system developed to cater for those children to both protect them and the community in the middle of the night when they are often detained as a last resort.

“Why aren’t we trying different response models, different ways of handling these children positively instead of just raising the age of criminal responsibility?

“The youth justice system is wrapping around the offender, but the victims should be front and centre in any reform that takes place.’’

SA Commissioner for Victims’ Rights - Bronwyn Killmier. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Ms Killmier’s comments – which follow the concerns raised by the Police Association last month – are likely to ignite further debate around the proposed move to raise the age of criminality currently under way in state parliament.

Greens MLC Robert Simms’ private member’s Bill, which is being favourably examined by Attorney-General Kyam Maher, proposes to raise the age of criminal responsibility from the current 10 to 14 years.

Ms Killmier said the present system, under which young offenders are either diverted to family conferences or their matters are heard in the Youth Court, was flexible in both giving children who had broken the law support and protecting the community.

However, because priority was given to the needs of the offender because of their age, victims were often neglected and left carrying the burden of the crime.

She said an unfortunate scenario under the proposed legislation would be that police would be in the situation they were left caring for children caught committing criminal offences – even though there was no prospect of taking any action against them – because no other agencies were available overnight.

“I don’t think any police officer wants to put a 10-year-old in a cell, but trying to find someone to look after the child or an alternative is really difficult after hours,’’ she said.

“Who is going to respond if it is not the police when there is no-one else, particularly in rural areas? They will be taking on a role that is not really theirs if there is not a criminal offence involved.

“Someone is going to have to work out how to respond because intervention is always best at the time of the offending.’’

Police question youths following an incident. Photo: Damian Hoffman

Ms Killmier said victims of crimes committed by juveniles do not want retribution against the offenders, rather they wanted to see intervention for them to ensure their offending stopped and there were no further victims.

She said they wanted the young offenders to be accountable for their actions in some form to ensure they learned from their actions – particularly if they were recidivist offenders who had a long criminal history.

“They want offenders to learn not to do it again. If they are not accountable and there is not something in place, how do you make people accountable, that is what any future programs will have to look at,’’ she said.

“Victims’ views vary depending on the seriousness of the offending, but there is an overall concern that if children who perpetrate low level offending are not being held accountable, then will their offending escalate?

“There has to be some sort of a program that holds them accountable, not necessarily in a police or legal sense. And they will have to take into account a 12-year-old who commits his first property crime should be treated differently than one who is perhaps caught committing his 11th or 12th offence.

“And such programs need to examine why that child is on the streets committing crime in the early hours of the morning instead of at home in bed, there could be many, many reasons for that needing attention.

“Victims would support evidence based alternatives to detention, including intensive rehabilitation and welfare-based responses, early intervention and community-led diversion programs with appropriate evaluation to ensure they are changing behaviours.’’

Four youths were arrested at Fulham Gardens in February after allegedly crashing a stolen Audi into a parked car and running off. Picture: Nine News Adelaide

And they also wanted to see an offence created for older individuals who used and recruited children to commit crimes knowing they would be immune from prosecution – a fear expressed by the Police Association which opposes raising the age of criminal responsibility.

Ms Killmier said if the age was increased there needed to be exceptions for children who commit crimes such as murder or sexual assault to ensure they faced legal consequences even if they were under 14 years.

And she proposed raising the age to 12 years, rather than 14 years as an alternative.

“I think it should be at the lower point to start with, at least trial it and see how it goes,’’ she said.

“But I think the bigger question is not to change the age, but to change how you deal with these children, how you respond to a 10 to 12 year old offender, what services are there for them and who will manage the child after police have attended the incident.

“There are lots of alternatives than putting them into a cell and that is what needs to change.’’