ACT’s nation-leading reform raises the age of criminal responsibility to 14
ALHR Welcomes ACT’s nation-leading reforms that raise the minimum age of of criminal responsibility to 14. This significant step means that young children in the ACT will be supported with the services they need, rather than being criminalised and imprisoned. This reform reflects UN recommendations to Australia, a wealth of medical evidence and expert advice, and the international benchmark
Across the rest of Australia children as young as 10 can be locked up – one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the world, well below the global median of 14 years, and entirely out of step with medical science. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has consistently recommended Australia raise the minimum age of responsibility to accord with our international obligations. This call has been echoed repeatedly throughout the UN human rights system, including by the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
ALHR calls on all jurisdictions across Australia to raise the age to 14 years with no exceptions.
Thirty five years since Australia ratified the CRC, we continue to fall short in realising the legal protection of children’s rights, particularly in relation to the administration of justice. This failure adversely impacts all children, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children with disabilities are shamefully overrepresented within a system that only perpetuates harm and recidivism. We must do better. Children that still have their baby teeth do not belong in prison cells or court rooms.