Faster action needed to push age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, advocates warn

Attorneys-General should be moving immediately to change laws to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, children’s advocates say.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

State Attorneys-General should be moving immediately to change laws to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, a coalition of Australia’s children’s commissioners, guardians and advocates say.

They warn a commitment by Attorneys-General last Friday for the “development of a proposal to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12”, while welcome, falls short both in the pace and the extent of the reform.

“We are pleased that some jurisdictions have for the first time indicated they will look at raising the age, but this process is not going far enough or fast enough,” the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Commissioners and Guardians said.

“The minimum age of criminal responsibility in all Australian states and territories should be 14 years. That is what the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended, based on a wealth of evidence and expert advice, and it is the international benchmark.”

The group, which includes the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds, said it had been three years since the Attorneys-General began a review of the age of criminal responsibility in 2018, with no concrete change yet made in any Australian jurisdiction.

“This is despite conclusive evidence, unanimous expert advice and widespread popular support for urgent action that would have an immediate effect on breaking cycles of disadvantage, reducing recidivism, and providing better outcomes for affected children, as well as increased safety for the wider community,” they said.

The most recent Australian Health and Welfare report on childhood detention found there were 499 children under the age of 14 who spent time in detention between June 2019 and June 2020, with 43 under the age of 12.

The Australian Capital Territory, after conducting an independent review, last month said it will increase the age of criminal responsibility to 14 alongside an overhaul of the youth justice system.

And the Northern Territory has committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12.

The commissioners said the fact that all state Attorneys-General had agreed to move ahead with a proposal was a positive step, but not big enough.

“We urgently need legislation to be tabled in each Australian state and territory that would see the minimum age of criminal responsibility raised to 14 years, as per the ACT Government’s commitment in this regard,” they said.

“These are clearly children who desperately need our care and protection, and we need to apply a more sophisticated approach to child wellbeing.”