Australia Is Close To Changing The Criminal Responsibility Age, But Will Still Jail 12-Year-Olds

Australia may soon see the age of criminal responsibility raised from 10-years-old. However, advocates are concerned that the proposed age of 12 is still too young.

A collective of Attorney-Generals from across the country met on Friday, before announcing the potential two-year boost on Monday. This comes in despite of calls to state and territory governments over the last three years age to make the age of criminal responsibility 14, at a bare minimum.

The Raise The Age campaign say the exploration was without warning, and was decided without community consultation. “This announcement is a cynical political stunt so that governments can pretend to be taking action, while actually doing nothing to help these children,” the group said on Tuesday.

“Many 12-year-olds are still in primary school, and 13-year-olds are only just preparing to start high school for the first time,” they said. “If governments only raise the age to 12-years-old, then 456 of the 499 children under 14 in prison last year would have remained locked away behind bars.”

According to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which also recommends a minimum age of 14, a minor’s capacity for reasoning is not fully developed by the age of 12. Polling by Amnesty International in March found that two-thirds of Australians already believe the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 14.

Indigenous children are disproportionately represented in the system. Over half of the incarcerated kids aged between 10-17 held between 2019 and last year were First Nations, despite only forming six percent of the age group in the country.

“We will not accept this cynical attempt to continue locking up kids who are too young to be criminally responsible for their actions, and who deserve care and support,” said Acting CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service in NSW and the ACT Nadine Miles. “The evidence clearly demonstrates that keeping children out of detention means they are less likely to incur trauma, they are less likely to disengage from school, and less likely to face homelessness and incarceration later in life.