The Victorian government has been accused of betraying Indigenous people after sensationally abandoning a promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Tuesday announced the backflip on the long-advocated reform ahead of state parliament resuming.
The state government is pushing on with legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 and other youth justice changes.
It originally planned under former premier Daniel Andrews to lift the age to 14 by 2027, with exceptions for serious offences such as rape and murder.
But following a series of prominent incidents involving youth offenders, including two fatal car crashes in less than two months, the government has watered down the reforms.
“Twelve is where it will stay,” Ms Allan told reporters.
“This decision has been made at a different time by a different government with a different premier.”
- YOUTH JUSTICE CHANGES AT A GLANCE:
* Dump raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, will lift to 12
* Introduce new offence for committing a serious crime on bail for both youths and adults after recently repealing those of committing an indictable offence while on bail and breaching a bail condition
* Clarify the ability of police to apply for bail to be revoked after further offences have been committed
* Changes to the Bail Act to highlight aggravated burglary, carjacking and home invasion as crimes that pose an unacceptable community risk
* An additional Children’s Court magistrate and extra police prosecutors to manage repeat offenders
* An expert task force to track problematic cohort of up to 200 repeat serious youth offenders
- PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED REFORMS
* Trial electronic monitoring as a bail condition for repeat serious offenders
* More powers to transfer people under 18 to adult prisons if deemed a serious risk
* Lower the age for prosecuting someone for recruiting children into criminal activity from 21 to 18
* Legislate a scheme for warnings, cautions and diversions
- EVENTS LEADING TO THE LATEST CHANGES
* Three high-profile deaths allegedly involving youths sparked months of public debate
* GP Ashley Gordon died following an alleged home invasion and confrontation with two 16-year-old boys in January
* Will Taylor, 28, died in a crash with a stolen Jeep allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy with five other teens inside in July
* Motorcyclist Davide Pollina died in a collision in Preston at the weekend involving an allegedly stolen car, with a 16-year-old boy arrested before being released
* Former premier Daniel Andrews pledged in 2023 to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027
* Bail laws were relaxed in March to ensure low-level offenders got bail following the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson, who died in a prison cell in 2020, with a coroner blasting bail laws at the time as a “complete and unmitigated disaster”
- LAWS ELSEWHERE
* Children as young as 10 can be charged, convicted and imprisoned across Australia except in the Northern Territory, where the age is 12
* The ACT passed legislation to raise the age to 14 by 2025 with exceptions and Tasmania has promised to raise the minimum age of criminal detention to 14
- KEY QUOTES
* “This is about community safety.” – Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes
* “I would forecast that we would see more people being remanded.” – Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton
* “The decision to now abandon the staged move to 14 in 2027 has let children and young people down.” – Victoria’s Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People Meena Singh
* “This decision is so contrary to the evidence it is difficult to comprehend.” – Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Eleanor Bourke
* “We trusted the Victorian government and we have been betrayed by their treacherous decision to abandon our children.” – Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight
* “Children need support to learn from mistakes, not getting caught up in a broken system that inflicts more harm than good.” – First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair Ngarra Murray
* “The Victorian premier today has shown us what weak and cowardly leadership looks like.” – Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell
* “We believe all indictable offences should face that tougher test. This is a weak, chaotic change.” – shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien
* “The government’s endless vacillation on law and order issues demoralises police members.” – Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt
“The discussion (on raising the age) isn’t proper … because there’s a sense that if they’re not charged nothing happens” – Swinburne University professor and co-author of a landmark 2017 Victorian youth justice review James Ogloff
Source: AAP
