Victoria Police to retain power to detain children as young as 10 in youth justice reform

The Victorian government will introduce legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility to parliament on Tuesday but police will retain one important power in dealing with child offenders, it has been revealed.

Police will retain the power to detain children as young as 10 even after Victoria raises the age of criminal responsibility to 12.

Unveiling a suite of reforms to the youth justice system on Tuesday, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said police would be free to use limited force, if necessary, do deal with at-risk children and transport them to police stations.

She said police would be given such powers to deal with children who were either at risk to themselves or the community, in situations where their parent or guardian could not be contacted.

“Police will be required to, as they currently do, deploy de-escalation tactics, try and reach out to someone who is appropriate to interact with that child and take care of that child,” she said.

“There will be the ability to use limited force, ie take the child by the arm...to bring them back (to a police station) and make sure the right services are provided.”

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes. Picture: Diego Fedele

Legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday.

Ms Symes said the decision to introduce the proposed new laws ahead of the winter break was deliberately made to give crossbench MPs and stakeholders time to consider the Bill before it was debated later this year.

The government expects the age of criminal responsibility to be raised by early 2025.

Under the proposed reforms a legislated scheme for warnings, cautions and early diversion will encourage police to avoid charging children.

At the same time, an additional Children’s Court magistrate will be appointed to help deal with a surge in repeat offending by up to 200 children.

Police will retain the power to detain children as young as 10. Picture: Supplied

Electronic monitoring will also be legislated as an optional bail condition for children.

The doli incapax principle — that dictates the presumption that a child aged 10 to 14 is incapable of criminal intent — will also be written into legislation.

Jacinta Allan said the legislation would reduce youth offending.

The premier said the overhaul struck a balance between slapping the state’s worst young offenders with harsher consequences, while also intervening early to get kids on the right path in life.

“It will increase community safety but also importantly it will provide an opportunity for young people to turn their lives around with strong intervention and diversionary programs ... and to prevent them from getting into an adult life of crime,” she said.

Shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien said the proposed reforms would do nothing to address youth crime.

“Today’s announcement by Labor isn’t a plan to tackle youth crime, it’s only a plan to redefine it and pretend it isn’t happening,” he said.

“This is just a further weakening of youth justice. And it’s exactly the wrong prescription at exactly the wrong time.”

Police believe there are up to 200 serious repeat offenders who continue to cause havoc on the streets.

They say while the total number of youth offenders is dropping, the number of crimes that each child commits is increasing.