Victoria to raise child criminal age of responsibility to 14 in 2027

The Andrews government has been urged to give special consideration to murder and terrorism offences as it confirms plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

The government plans to raise the age of child criminal responsibility to 14 in 2027.

Victoria’s age of criminal responsibility will rise to 14 in 2027 under the second stage of the Andrews government to lift the current limit.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes on Wednesday confirmed Cabinet would increase the minimum age that a child can be arrested, charged or jailed from 10 to 12.

The move would be introduced as part of broader youth justice legislation and will be accompanied with support services to help families deal with worrying behaviour by children in this age bracket.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes. Picture: David Geraghty

But she also revealed that by 2027 this minimum would change again to 14 after more work was done to assess the impacts on the corrections system.

Under this second lot of changes, there would still be exemptions for certain serious offences if they involved children aged 12 and 13.

Another part of the reforms would include strengthening current legal presumptions for children under 14 so they are better understood by the courts.

Ms Symes said this year there were about 150 children aged between 10 and 12 who had been alleged to commit a crime, compared to 300 in 2017.

“Raising the age to 12 is a measured sensible approach based on evidence,” she said.

“We know that children at this young age do not fully appreciate that their behaviour is criminal.

“It is very often, if not always, a feature of an underlying cause such as trauma, poverty or disability, factors that can be dealt with more appropriately through other methods.”

Ms Symes said raising the age to 12 would give the government a chance to test the change before moving higher.

Victoria will lift a child’s age of criminal responsibility to 14 in 2027.

She said the decision had been made with consultation from Aboriginal community leaders who have long asked for an increase to 14.

“I know that today that our announcement falls short of the expectation of moving to 14 immediately, but it is a great step,” she said.

“We are committed to 12 with a further commitment to take some time to get it right and to raise to 14.

“Too many kids are coming to our attention with their issues at the point of contact the justice system.

“That’s not appropriate. We want kids picked up earlier, we want their issues dealt with earlier, we want them diverted from a life of crime as early as possible.

“The evidence suggests that the earlier a child is picked up in the justice system, the more likely they are to offend (and) the more likely they are to be an adult offender.

“That’s not right. We want to do better.”

Victoria Police union boss Wayne Gatt wants to ensure public safety. Picture: David Crosling

Victoria’s police union has warned the Andrews government must carefully consider community safety when it moves to raise the age of criminality to 14 in four years.

Police Association Victoria Secretary Wayne Gatt said the increase must ensure the interests of young criminals are balanced with the need to maintain community safety.

“Crime data in Victoria clearly indicates that the age of 12 is a critical turning point in the debate about raising the age of criminal responsibility,” Mr Gatt said.

“It is the age at which the prevalence and severity of criminal offending spikes, with ages 12 to 14 particularly problematic in high harm offending and crimes committed against people.

“We believe that if the age of criminal responsibility is raised from 12 to 14 in Victoria, the most heinous of crimes including murder and terrorism offences still warrant special consideration.”

Mr Gatt said it was vital that adequate measures were implemented well in advance of the reforms coming into effect.

“This will only be achieved through adequate funding, resourcing and the practical implementation of social and support resources to match the needs of young people caught up in criminal offending, and the police who will be called upon to respond to the incidents they are involved in,” he said.

Law Institute of Victoria president Tania Wolff pushed for the government to heed the call of the experts and raise the age to 14 “immediately and without exception”.

“We urge the government to continue its show of leadership by implementing this reform now,” Ms Wolff said following the announcement.

She said LIV has consistently supported a raise in the age to 14 to be in line with medical evidence showing children undergo significant cognitive development at this age.

But Ms Wolff said appropriate resourcing and support was needed to ensure vulnerable children and their families stay out of the criminal justice system.