Raise The Age

The Victorian Government is at risk of walking away from its promise to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 by 2027.

In June 2024, the Allan Government introduced draft laws into the Victorian Parliament that will raise the minimum age to 12 without exception. Nowhere in the draft laws is the commitment to raise the age to 14 enshrined.

Alarmingly, the draft laws also propose new powers for police to transport children aged 10 and 11 in a police vehicle; detain them, including at police stations, without any express time limits; use force on them; and subject them to searches.

This is not good enough. Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 now and with no exceptions is the absolute bare minimum to be in line with medical expert advice and international human rights standards.

The draft laws have now passed through Victoria’s lower house and are due to be debated in the upper house this week. Please use our easy email tool to email Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes, Premier Jacinta Allan and your local MP and urge them to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 years old now.

The Victorian Government is at risk of walking away from its promise to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 by 2027.

In June 2024, the Allan Government introduced draft laws into the Victorian Parliament that will raise the minimum age to 12 without exception. Nowhere in the draft laws is the commitment to raise the age to 14 enshrined.

Alarmingly, the draft laws also propose new powers for police to transport children aged 10 and 11 in a police vehicle; detain them, including at police stations, without any express time limits; use force on them; and subject them to searches.

This is not good enough. Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 now and with no exceptions is the absolute bare minimum to be in line with medical expert advice and international human rights standards.

The draft laws have now passed through Victoria’s lower house and are due to be debated in the upper house this week. Please use our easy email tool to email Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes, Premier Jacinta Allan and your local MP and urge them to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 years old now.

Raise the Age, Victoria!

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Subject:

Dear Attorney General,

I urge you to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 as part of the Youth Justice Bill now before the Victorian Parliament.

Every child should be free to go to school, have a safe home to live in and be supported to learn from their mistakes - not locked away in prisons and police cells.

I understand that the Victorian Government plans to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 now and to 14 by 2027, with this latter commitment not enshrined in the Youth Justice Bill.

This is not good enough, and the Youth Justice Bill should be strengthened accordingly.

The current, very low age of criminal responsibility at just 10 in Victoria is out of step with the rest of the world, international human rights standards, medical science and criminological evidence.

It contributes to the mass incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and raising the age to at least 14 is a simple and straightforward step that will reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in prisons and help your Government meet its Closing The Gap targets.

The evidence is also clear that forcing a child to have contact with the criminal legal system makes it more likely they will go on to be criminalised again in future.

Consistent with recommendations made by the Yoorrook Justice Commission and numerous other reports and inquiries, raising the age from 10 to 14 is the absolute bare minimum reform required to achieve the goal of supporting children to thrive in the community. 
I am also concerned that the Youth Justice Bill includes new powers for police to transport children aged 10 and 11 in a police vehicle; detain them in police stations; use force on them; and subject them to searches.

New powers like this that permit police to subject children to harmful processes undermine the whole purpose of the raise the age reform and should be abandoned.

If the Victorian Government is truly committed to delivering brighter futures for all Victorian children, please raise the age to at least 14 now - without exception and without any new police powers - in your Youth Justice Bill.

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