State stands by plan to raise age of criminal responsibility

The Victorian government vows to continue with plans to stop children aged 12 and 13 facing criminal charges despite concerns from the police union and state opposition about a rise in youth crime.

Currently, children as young as 10 can be arrested, charged, held on remand and jailed in juvenile detention. But the government has committed to raising the age to 12 by the end of this year and then to 14 by 2027 to bring the state in line with international norms, evidence about child development and human rights standards.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes.Credit: AAP

The government had said it would bring the first tranche of reform to parliament by the end of last year, but the bill is now not expected until the middle of this year.

The second phase is conditional on the launch of an alternative service model to deal with misbehaving 12- and 13-year-olds. It will also include yet-to-be-determined exceptions for some serious offences, such as terrorism.

While the police union has publicly agitated for the government to drop the second stage, the government on Monday said its position had not changed after the Herald Sun reported rising youth crime and fears of a voter backlash had put the policy in doubt.

“We have always said that we would be raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027, accompanied by alternative services that keep young people held to account and out of the justice system – that hasn’t changed,” a government spokeswoman said.

“This safety net is needed because we know that offending in 12- and 13-year-olds is more serious and complex than that of 10- and 11-year-olds – raising the age without it could put this cohort on a fast track to the adult prison system, helping no one.”

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said 12 was the age that the rate and seriousness of criminal offending spiked.

“If true, today’s report that the government is reconsidering its proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria, is in our view, a sensible and pragmatic step, particularly given the current environment regarding youth crime in Victoria and its impact on the community,” Gatt said.

While crime is down overall on pre-pandemic levels in Victoria, offences committed by 10- to 13-year-olds increased by a third in the year to September 30, Crime Statistics Agency data published in December shows.

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight accused police of running a scare campaign against reform that Aboriginal communities spent years fighting for, but she believed the Allan government would press ahead with the change.

“It would be shameful if the Victorian government walked back their commitment to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14,” Waight said.

The government appointed an expert panel in October to advise on the design of the alternative service model.

Four stakeholders with knowledge of the issue, speaking to The Age on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about discussions, said consultation on the model had begun in earnest and a government source said there was no internal push to walk away from the promise.

Liana Buchanan, the Commissioner for Children and Young People, says antisocial behaviour is often associated with childhood abuse, trauma and neglect. Credit: Justin McManus

Liana Buchanan, the Commissioner for Children and Young People, said Victoria should raise the age to 14 as quickly as possible.

She said introducing children to the criminal justice system increased the risk of them reoffending and that the younger they were, the more likely they were to end up in a cycle of offending.

“Those who are opposed to raising the age are arguing against what is in the interests of community safety. I have to say, as children’s commissioner, the irony of that frustrates me enormously because the evidence cannot be clearer,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan said the cause of a child’s antisocial or violent behaviour needed to be addressed, with the Youth Parole Board reporting that 64 per cent of young offenders in Victoria in 2022-23 were victims of abuse, trauma or neglect as a child.

“For young people in particular, we are criminalising their trauma,” she said. “I don’t want to live in a society like that.”

Victoria Legal Aid, the Law Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre on Monday all supported raising the age to 14 as quickly as possible.

Victoria currently has strong legal protections for children charged with crimes, known as doli incapax, which describes the inability of children under the minimum age of criminal responsibility to form criminal intent. If a child is aged over 10 years but under 14, there is a common law presumption of doli incapax.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said nobody wanted to see people unnecessarily put behind bars but that the age of criminal responsibility should remain at 10.

“The Allan government ... ideologically is preoccupied with raising the age when everyone is saying, ‘Don’t do this’,” he said.

“Raising the age will tell young people that it’s OK to engage in acts that they know to be wrong.”

Victorian Greens justice spokeswoman Katherine Copsey said the government “needs to grow a spine”. “Kids belong in schools, not prisons.”

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