Daniel Andrews warns criminals may abuse new age of criminal responsibility
Daniel Andrews says new penalties may be needed to stop criminals from using kids to carry out crimes when Victoria raises the age of criminality.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Daniel Andrews has flagged that new offences may need to be introduced to stop criminals from using kids to carry out their crimes when Victoria raises the age of criminality.
Former top cop Kel Glare on Sunday told the Herald Sun that such a move to increase the age would be at the “height of stupidity”.
Mr Glare said it would be inevitable that increasing the age of criminal responsibility would lead to more crime, and that offenders would turn to children to carry out their crimes.
Mr Andrews on Tuesday hit out at Mr Glare, who also urged the government not to rush any new legislation.
“I’m most definitely not here to have a debate with Mr Glare ... he’s barely had a good word to say about us, ever,” he said.
“We won’t be rushing these changes, so therefore his criticisms have no validity whatsoever.
“Mr Glare and all Victorians can rest assured ... it’ll be done properly.”
But Mr Andrews acknowledged the state government may need to look at further penalties for criminals who may look to exploit the system.
“We are alive to that issue and anybody in any context, who seeks to use the law to try and avoid or evade responsibility for their actions,” he said.
“We have conspiracy laws. We have all manner of different offences, and we may need additional offences to safeguard against that.
“With the greatest of respect, we give a great deal of thought to these matters and I would have thought we had demonstrated that over time.”
Mr Andrews last week said he wanted to implement a suite of new reforms to bail, youth justice and child protection within the first half of this year.
“Without going into the deliberations of cabinet, which would be inappropriate, I can tell you that the bail reform process is well and truly under way,” he said.
The Herald Sun on Tuesday revealed that dozens of young offenders behind a wave of aggravated burglaries had been arrested more than 10 times in the past year.
Mr Andrews said those figures were concerning.
“Of course any crime, certainly patterns of crime, concerns us,” he said.
“But the issue here is that the mere existence of a watch list goes directly to the fact that Victoria Police are doing their job and they take this crime seriously, and they’re closely monitoring these offenders.
“These offenders would be unwise to continue offending.”
Ex police chief warns against rushing change
Premier Daniel Andrews comments came after Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Kel Glare warned against rushing to raise the age of criminality, declaring such a move would be at the “height of stupidity”.
Mr Glare, who served as Victoria Police’s top cop from 1987 to 1992, said the Andrews government shouldn’t rush towards any change.
“(Raising the age) is at the height of stupidity,” he said.
“There are all kinds of adult criminals who would use 13-year-old kids as a tool to commit their offences — I think it’s almost inevitable that this will increase crime.”
The state opposition has also called on the Andrews government to not go “racing ahead of the rest of the country”.
“The law already contains significant protections for children aged between 10 and 14, who cannot be tried unless the court is completely satisfied they understood the grave nature of the offence,” shadow attorney general Michael O’Brien said.
“With children as young as 13 currently before the courts in relation to alleged homicides, Labor should not be racing ahead of the rest of the country on this important issue.”
A 13-year-old boy, who was charged over the frenzied stabbing death of 16-year-old teen Declan Cutler in Reservoir last year, was on bail at the time of the alleged murder.
Referencing that case, Mr Glare said: “What do you say to that kid? ‘Don’t be naughty?’”
The Department of Justice and Community Safety’s most recent annual report stated the annual daily average number of kids aged under 15 in custody on any given day was 12.5.
And the Children’s Court of Victoria’s latest annual report found that the number of young people found guilty of crime had dropped substantially over the years.
Just 1141 young people were convicted of a crime in the 2021/22 financial year, compared to 5427 a decade earlier.
Former Justice Party MP Tania Maxwell said Victoria didn’t currently have the resources required to deal with youth offenders and couldn’t afford to raise the age.
“I find that the Labor government, particularly the Premier, is very reactive as opposed to responsive,” she said.
“Most of these politicians have never worked at the coalface with these kids.
“There are some kids, as much as it saddens me, where the trauma is so ingrained and the behaviour is so entrenched that there is often no where else to put these kids.”
But justice advocates, legal bodies and First Nations voices have overwhelmingly backed the move.
Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards said the change was long overdue.
“We know that children in detention are some of the most marginalised children in our community,” she said.
Move to raise age of criminal responsibility
Daniel Andrews has threatened to ditch the national process and go it alone on raising the age of criminal responsibility to as high as 14 years old within weeks.
The Premier on Thursday said locking up children as young as 10 was “not right” and that Victoria would no longer be held back by other states and territories.
“Clearly where it is now is not right, and it needs to change,” he said of the age of criminality.
Mr Andrews refused to say whether he preferred to lift the age to 12 or 14. The opposition is urging the Premier to not go “racing ahead of the rest of the country”.
Mr Andrews said he wanted to move fast by introducing legislation in the first half of the year on youth justice, child protection and bail reform.
The nation’s attorneys-general will meet in April.
While the government preferred to land on a nationally agreed age of criminal responsibility, Mr Andrews said he did not want to wait months.
“I’m not necessarily keen to wait that long,” he said. “We’re giving that one more go to try and get a national consensus and if we don’t – as we said some time ago – we won’t hesitate to do our own thing.
“We think a national law would be better, but at some point you have to call time on national processes that just don’t deliver. If it becomes clearer and clearer that it’s unlikely, then we’ll put a proposal to the parliament.” Currently in Victoria, children as young as 10 can be charged with crimes, taken through the courts and end up in juvenile detention. Justice advocates, legal bodies and First Nations voices have long been calling for the age to rise. Young Aboriginals are over-represented in the prison system.
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight said the age needed to be raised to “at least 14 years old with no exceptions”.
“Raising the age is not just about the children being held in prison, but the children who are targeted by police,” she said. “Every child that comes into contact with police and prison is being harmed.”
Law Institute of Victoria president Tania Wolff said there was clear evidence to increase the age to 14. “This is the minimum standard set by the UN and is backed by medical research which shows children go through significant cognitive development at this age,” she said.
Victorian Greens spokeswoman Katherine Copsey said it was a “sad indictment on our Dickensian criminal justice system” that children as young as 10 could be locked up.
“If Australia’s A-Gs are going to continue to drop the ball on raising the age to 14, it’s time for the Premier to pick it up,” she said.
Opposition spokesman Michael O’Brien said: “With children as young as 13 currently before the courts in relation to alleged homicides, Labor should not be racing ahead of the rest of the country.”
More Coverage
Devastated relatives to sue over Daylesford pub crash ruling
Charges have been dismissed against a diabetic driver who killed five people when he ploughed into a Daylesford beer garden. The victims’ grieving relatives have hit out at the decision saying “there is zero justice”.
Deeming: I was in a fight to the death with Pesutto
In an extraordinary affidavit, Moira Deeming says she believed John Pesutto and David Southwick “set out to damage and utterly destroy me” after a controversial women’s rally.