Greens MP reveals night kid tried to steal his car, why he supports increasing the criminal age

We need a new approach to youth crime that focuses on what’s gone wrong for these kids instead of branding them as criminals, writes Greens MP Michael Berkman

In the early hours of Anzac Day this year, I came face-to-face with a young kid trying to steal my wife’s car.

I usually don’t sleep well when I have to get up early for events like the dawn service, so I was easily roused by the sound of footsteps going down our front steps, and quickly out of bed when I heard the car “beep” unlocked.

Brake lights lit up our side fence by the time I reached the front door, and it was clear someone was trying to steal the car. In a sleepy haze, I did something that was probably ill-advised: walked down the driveway to the car and opened the driver’s door.

There in the driver’s seat, I saw a child – a slight, confused, and clearly terrified child, no older than 12 at a guess.

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While he tried to back the car out, I jumped in and put my foot on the brake. I remember vividly the only words we exchanged: me repeating “stop it” and him repeating “I’m sorry”.

He scrambled out the passenger side, leaving the driver’s side door nearly ripped off as it tore a hole in our carport wall – and it was all over.

My experience isn’t unusual. In fact, the same thing happened to my neighbours just last year. Kids opportunistically break into a house looking for car keys, find what they’re after and steal the car – it’s ill-considered, thrillseeking behaviour that’s readily explained by the science of brain development.

While the prefrontal cortex (responsible for impulse control, complex decision-making and understanding consequences) develops gradually from ages 10-17 and is not fully developed until 25, the amygdala (emotions and reward-seeking behaviour) is developed in early adolescence.

Most parents of teenagers will be familiar with the consequences of this formula – young people with limited capacity to plan, foresee consequences or control impulses.

As a Greens MP I’m sometimes accused of turning a blind eye to crime, or ignoring the impacts on victims, but this is plain wrong. I’ve been there – I’m one of the so-called victims. But this attempted theft only cemented my view that the “tough on crime” rubbish we keep hearing from politicians of all stripes is doomed to fail.

We need a new approach that focuses on what’s gone wrong for these kids, and what’s missing in their lives.

We need to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years old, and properly fund an alternative model for children under 14.

Michael Berkman supports raising the criminal age.

That should include more social housing and free meal programs, early intervention via service referral hubs in schools, therapeutic responses to anti-social behaviour like restorative justice and Indigenous-led cultural programs, and intensive case management for more serious or violent behaviour.

We need multidisciplinary staff to work with a child and their family on the root causes of offending, be that poverty, mental illness, addiction, disengagement from school, disability, or trauma.

We need evidence-based solutions that are more cost-effective than the $1640 daily bill to keep a child in detention.

I don’t know why this kid was out in Bardon at 3am, but I know he probably shouldn’t have been.

And if he and other kids caught up in this kind of behaviour had a safe place to sleep, and stable, caring role models to help them deal with whatever trauma they’re struggling with, they probably wouldn’t be wandering the streets at all hours.

Of course I think he did the wrong thing (and he probably knew it was wrong too), but I bristle at the idea of him being charged, put before a Magistrate and maybe even sentenced to prison.

The most predictable outcome of sending kids to court and prison is that they’re more likely to reoffend, but there’s an even more fundamental reason we should do all we can to keep this kid out of the criminal legal system.

He’s a kid, not a criminal. He’s a small person with his whole life ahead of him.

He’s someone who is worthy of love and care, and who needs support to realise and enjoy all life has to offer him. And if we can give him that, we’ll all be better off for it.

Michael Berkman is the Greens MP for Maiwar