‘No criminal consequences’ at 10, 11 for Victorian children

Jaclyn Symes on Wednesday confirmed Victoria would become the first Australian state to enact legislation to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

The Victorian government’s planned changes to the age of criminal responsibility mean there will “not be criminal consequences” for any 10 or 11-year-old child who commits a crime, the state’s Attorney-General says.

Jaclyn Symes on Wednesday confirmed Victoria would become the first Australian state to enact legislation to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, with plans to further lift it to 14 by 2027.

The move comes ahead of a meeting of state, territory and federal attorneys-general on Friday, at which the issue is expected to be discussed, and follows years of campaigning from human rights, legal, medical and Indigenous groups, who have expressed disappointment that the government has opted not to raise the age to 14 immediately.

The state opposition has not said whether it will support the legislation, but Coalition legal affairs spokesman Michael O’Brien on Wednesday expressed concern about a lack of detail regarding how the government plans to deal with children who commit high level offences under the new laws.

Ms Symes said the government planned to codify and strengthen the existing legal presumption, known as doli incapax, which states a child under 14 cannot be held criminally responsible unless they knew their actions were seriously wrong, to ensure it is better understood and applied consistently in the courts.

“For the first stage of reforms, support services will be used to help 10 and 11-year-olds and their families address the causes of problematic behaviours and prevent future contact with the criminal justice system, any change will ensure that victims impacted by these behaviours continue to be able to access support,” Ms Symes said.

Asked what consequences there would be for a 10 or 11-year-old who committed a serious crime such as murder, Ms Symes said: “There will not be criminal consequences for children in a cohort aged 10 and 11.”