Premier walks back support for raising age of criminal responsibility to 14

Premier Jacinta Allan has walked back support for Victoria to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027, after weeks of renewed focus on youth crime in the state.

Ahead of a cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday where the policy is expected to be discussed, Allan said the government knew it had to do more to address community concerns about youth crime and promised “further strengthened action” to tackle serious repeat offenders.

Premier Jacinta Allan unveiling the government’s youth justice legislation earlier in the year.Credit: AAP

Currently, children as young as 10 can be arrested, charged and jailed in juvenile detention, but a bill before parliament will lift the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12.

In 2023, the state government vowed to lift the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 before again raising it to 14 by 2027, following pressure from Indigenous, legal and medical groups as well as the Greens.

On Sunday, Allan was asked three times whether she remained committed to lifting the minimum age to 14 by 2027, but repeatedly refused to recommit to the pledge made by then-premier Daniel Andrews in 2023.

“The government has already announced its pathway to raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility and the first step was raising it to 12, which is in the youth justice bill before parliament,” she said.

“We know that building on the youth justice bill that’s in the parliament we need to take additional measures. Now I am not going to pre-empt that conversation with colleagues, but we know we need to do more.”

Asked again whether she remained committed to the policy, Allan said: “I am not going to be drawn on what further changes the government may be considering.”

The softening in support for the policy comes just months after Allan publicly committed the government to it.

In March, amid reports Labor figures were pushing to limit the increase to 12, Allan said lifting the age a child can be arrested, charged and held to 14 “continues to be the policy intent of the government”.

Youth Justice Minister Enver Erdogan.Credit: Facebook

In June, Youth Justice Minister Enver Erdogan said the government still planned to raise the age to 14, with exceptions for serious offences such as homicide or rape.

Victoria Police does not support raising the age of criminality to 14, but many medical and legal groups have called on the government to immediately lift the age. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians has argued children under 14 may not have the level of maturity and cognitive function to be considered criminally responsible.

On Sunday, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight said the group trusted the premier “will keep her promises”.

“The Victorian government has repeatedly promised to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years old by 2027. Experts from Aboriginal, legal, and medical organisations all agree that the minimum age should be at least 14 years old,” she said.

Victorian Greens justice spokeswoman Katherine Copsey said any backflip would be a “total betrayal to First Nations communities, the UN, human rights groups, legal and medical experts who have all been calling for this.

“Locking up kids isn’t what’s best for them and it certainly doesn’t lead to better community safety.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the Coalition did not support raising the age from 10. He called on the premier to walk away from her commitment.

Allan’s shift follows a jump in the youth crime rate in Victoria since 2022. Children aged 14 to 17 were linked to more than 18,700 crimes in the state last year – about 30 per cent more than in the previous year.

On Sunday morning, a 19-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a collision with an allegedly stolen car in Preston. A 16-year-old boy, believed to be a passenger in the BMW, was taken into custody and later released. Police are searching for the driver.

Allan described the incident as a tragic accident and offered her sympathy to the family of the motorcyclist, named by Nine News as Davide Pollina from Wollert.

As well as raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12, Labor’s youth justice legislation, which will be debated in the upper house this week, will allow repeat offenders to be fitted with electronic monitoring ankle bracelets, while giving police the option of using more warnings, cautions and early diversions before charging young offenders.

Allan said while the bill would give police and the courts more tools to tackle youth crime, the government also understood it needed to look at “what more we must bring to this task”.

“It’s a concern for the community. It’s a concern for me. It’s a concern for the government,” she said.

“We also understand there is an opportunity here and now to take further action to respond to this pattern of behaviour. It is a smaller number of young people, but there is a pattern of behaviour that is causing harm ...”

Her comments come after the government used the winter break to hold meetings with key figures in the youth justice sector, as law enforcement advocates pushed for aggravated burglary to be treated more seriously by courts when considering bail.

“The voices of victims of crime had been a really important part of those meetings and discussions we’ve had ... understanding their experience, hearing their trauma and looking at ways we need to strengthen our response,” Allan said.

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.