Backlash as Allan Labor government abandons plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14

Premier Jacinta Allan has been chastised over her decision to raise the criminal age of responsibility to 12 instead of 14.

The Victorian government has abandoned plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and has introduced new reforms to crackdown on youth crime sweeping the state.

In announcing a suite of amendments to Labor’s Youth Justice Bill, Premier Jacinta Allan distinguished herself from her predecessor Daniel Andrews, who in 2023 committed to raising the age from 10 to 12, and then to 14 by 2027.

“The bill that is before the Victorian parliament … raises the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12. We are the first jurisdiction in the country to make this change … 12 is where it will stay,” Ms Allan said.

“And in terms of last year to this year, the decision has been made. This decision has been made at a different time, by a different government, with a different Premier.”

The Premier confirmed that no child under the age of 14 is currently in the state’s custodial system.

“And we want to keep it that way, and the way we keep it that way is passing the Youth Justice Bill which is before the parliament because it is transformative reform, but also my priority is to keep the community safe,” she said.

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and then deputy Premier Jacinta Allan in 2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton said there was a very small cohort of 10-11 year olds youth offenders.

“(They’re) exhibiting much less serious offences, albeit there are some serious offences there, and it’s something that we believe we’ll be able to manage,” he said.

The backflip has garnered seething backlash from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, who said the government “write their promises in the sand”.

Its chief executive officer Nerita Waight said she feels betrayed by the “treacherous” decision.

“Today Cabinet made a heartless decision to cast aside the best interests of vulnerable children. Many of these politicians are parents themselves but their children will never be subjected to racist policing, never be denied access to the supports they need, and never be thrown away,” she said.

“We must have spent hundreds of hours helping the Victorian Government develop the Youth Justice Bill. It’s devastating to see so little left after the Victorian Government first abandoned bail reforms for children and has now abandoned raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

In September last year the Yoorrook Justice Commission recommended the government raise the age to 14 without exceptions in its report into the criminal justice system.

The truth-telling body’s chair Professor Eleanor Bourke lamented over the policy change.

“We cannot underestimate the tsunami of disappointment that this announcement will create for First Peoples communities,” Professor Bourke said.

“This decision is so contrary to the evidence it is difficult to comprehend – evidence heard by Yoorrook and countless other inquiries, commissions and coronial inquests over a period of decades.”

Car theft by a young offender.

Australian Lawyers Alliance Victorian president Susan Accary said the softened stance on raising the age would destroy young lives instead of reducing crime.

“Taking a ‘tough on crime’ political response to youth offences will not make our communities safer but it will result in more vulnerable children being entrenched in the criminal justice system and becoming locked into a dangerous cycle of disadvantage,” she said.

“Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 is a critical step to help reduce the incarceration of young people, who should only ever be detained as a last resort, and the Victorian government must stick by this commitment.”

Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto said the announcement was a political fix and that evidence was stacked up against Ms Allan as being soft on crime.

“The Allan government is mired in chaos and dysfunction. It has no direction, it has no purpose, and its objectives for Victorians are totally unclear,” the state Liberal leader said.

“For months now, Premier Allen has campaigned to raise the age to 14, and all of a sudden we see a new policy announced today. Who can believe Premier Allan on anything?”

The Coalition oppose raising the age from 10 and the Greens want to see the age raised to 14.

Victorian Chief Commissioner of Police, Shane Patton. Picture: David Crosling

The Premier, alongside Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes, Police Minister Anthony Carbines and Youth Justice Minister Enver Erdogan, also revealed the bail act will be amended to specifically call out criminal offences such as aggravated burglary, robbery, dangerous driving, carjacking and home invasion, under the new amendments to the youth justice legislation.

The bill will also seek to create a new separate offence for committing serious crimes such as murder and rape while on bail and strengthen the bail test.

Grounds for police to apply for bail revocation would also be strengthened and a Council on Bail, Rehabilitation and Accountability (COBRA), which aims to explore the motivations of reoffenders, would be established.