QLD Labor Raise the Age

This weekend the Queensland Labor Party will consider a motion to formally change its policy platform to support raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years in Queensland. This could be a vital step towards changing the laws in Queensland - if we can convince Labor Party decision makers to vote in favour of the motion.

Send an email to your local member (if you live in a QLD Labor-held electorate), the relevant Labor Ministers, Attorney General and Premier and let them know that Queenslanders like you want to see the law changed to keep kids - and the whole community - safe and well.

This weekend the Queensland Labor Party will consider a motion to formally change its policy platform to support raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years in Queensland. This could be a vital step towards changing the laws in Queensland - if we can convince Labor Party decision makers to vote in favour of the motion.

Send an email to your local member (if you live in a QLD Labor-held electorate), the relevant Labor Ministers, Attorney General and Premier and let them know that Queenslanders like you want to see the law changed to keep kids - and the whole community - safe and well.

Call on QLD Labor to #RaiseTheAge

This weekend the Queensland Labor Party will consider a motion to formally change its policy platform to support raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years in Queensland. We need to urgently reach out to Queensland Labor local members, relevant Ministers and the Premier to let them know that Queenslanders want to create stronger, healthier communities - not lock kids up.

We have written a template email for you to use. All you need to do is insert your postcode and any extra comments you want to add to the letter, and hit send!

Find your local rep

Compose your email

Subject:

I write to you as a constituent, and a Queenslander, concerned for the future of our children, and the safety of our community. 
 
It is a national shame that in Australia, children as young as 10 years of age are being arrested and put behind bars. Sadly, children who are from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, are too often caught up in the criminal justice system, and endure long lasting trauma from their experiences.
 
This weekend, the Queensland Labor Party has a chance to make positive steps to change this. At this weekend’s Queensland Labor Party Conference, raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years will be discussed. As a constituent, I strongly urge you to support this motion to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 with no exceptions. By supporting this policy change, you are taking the important first steps to change the law in Queensland, and make real, positive change for all children.

The evidence overwhelmingly shows that when children as young as 10 years of age are forced through a criminal legal process during their formative developmental phases, they suffer immense harm. This negatively impacts their health, wellbeing and futures. These impacts are further exacerbated for young people with recognised disabilities such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) or on the Autism spectrum, whether diagnosed or not, and for those dealing with the other developmental delays and difficulties associated with complex developmental trauma.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have a right to grow up connected to culture and in a safe and healthy environment, supported to remain with their families and communities. The low age of criminal responsibility disproportionately impacts these children and is a key driver of their contact with police and the justice system. In 2019, 65 percent of children in detention in Australia aged 10 to 13 years were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Raising the age of criminal responsibility would have an immediate and generational impact on the over-incarceration Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia and its consequences, including increasing the likelihood of reducing the rate of overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the criminal legal system, which is a Closing The Gap target.

You can find more support and evidence for why we need to raise the age at the Raise the Age Campaign website, including more than 48 public submissions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, medical and legal experts, service providers and Australian and international human rights organisations sent to the Council of Attorneys-General Working Group on raising the age.
 
We all know that children belong in schools and playgrounds, connected to their families, communities and culture, not placed in handcuffs, held in watchhouses or locked away in prisons. Raising the age is the right thing to do. It is a reform that is based on medical evidence and will bring Queensland in line with international standards. It is a change that will keep children strong, and communities safe.
 
Yours sincerely,

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