Anglicare Southern Queensland, along with other advocacy groups across Australia, labelled the 2021 announcement to raise the age of criminal responsibility to only 12 years (instead of the internationally recommended 14) ‘an empty commitment.’
In 2020, dozens of organisations, including medical, legal and First Nations experts, made submissions to the Attorneys-General, calling for the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to 14 years.
Research supports raise the age
Anglicare’s Chief Executive Officer, Sue Cooke believes in raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14. She said that there’s vast medical evidence and research to support this.
“We’re not suggesting that children should be exempt from the consequences of their actions. However, we should separate our response to children’s responsibility for crimes…” Mrs Cooke said.
“The evidence shows that the earlier a young person comes into contact with a youth justice system, the more likely they are to stay involved with the system and enter into the adult system, as well.
“And medical research shows children aged under 14 actually don’t have full capacity to understand the consequences of the decisions they are making.”
A focus on early intervention
Ms Cooke says, “We need to focus on early intervention. A number of countries, including Sweden, France and Norway, offer examples consistent with this approach. Anti-social and offending behaviour of young children is dealt with through the child welfare system rather than the justice system.
“We commend the ACT Government, which is the only state or territory so far to listen to this expert advice. Therefore, making the commitment to raise the age to 14.”
In Queensland, polling by The Australia Institute in 2020 showed that twice as many Queenslanders support raising the age to 14 (50 per cent). Whereas, oppose 25 per cent oppose it.
Nearly six in 10 Queenslanders also agree that public money, currently spent on locking up children, would be better spent on social services. For instance, family support, trauma and mental health support and public housing.
After three years of debating the issue, the Attorneys-General proposal is in effect a ‘non proposal’ with no timelines, designation of responsibility for preparing the document, or actual commitments.
The proposal flies in the face of public opinion with international evidence and pressure from more than 30 other countries at the United Nations in 2021.
“It is an empty commitment that does nothing to give children the help they need to lead healthy and happy lives in their homes, schools, and communities,” said Sue.
To follow along in our journey of advocating for raising the age of criminal responsibility and other advocacy projects, please visit our Advocacy page.