A coalition of Aboriginal, human rights, health and medical organisations has sent out an urgent request for Australians to write to the country’s Attorneys-General urging them to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
State and territory Attorneys-General are due to meet this Friday, 28 April for the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, marking five years since they first began investigating whether to raise the age of criminal responsibility.
A report, which Attorneys-General delayed releasing for over two years, was finally made public last year – as reported by Croakey last December – and recommended raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
The Raise the Age campaign has prepared this email template for Australians to contact their Attorney-General.
The campaign says state and territory governments continue to ignore expert voices, community calls and even the advice of their own government departments to take urgent action.
“Twelve and 13-year-olds should be finishing primary school and starting high school. They should be in our schoolyards and with their families, not locked up behind bars. Prison has devastating and lifelong impacts on children’s and young people’s health, development, mental health and wellbeing.”
An open letter to the Attorneys-General from 126 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, health and medical, legal, social and community services providers, and their respective peak bodies, from every state and territory in Australia, says polling shows that raising the age has broad public support, and that it would have an immediate impact on Australia’s ability to meet its Closing the Gap targets.
Meanwhile, the Victorian Government has been widely criticised for a recent announcement that it plans to wait four years before raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, and only committing to raising the age to 12 now.
A Jesuit Social Services statement said the Victorian Government’s announcement was at odds with the evidence about children’s brain development and the best way to create strong and cohesive communities.
Cheryl Axleby, Co-Chair of Change the Record, said in a statement that all state and territory governments should commit to raising the age to 14, particularly as the Federal Government had committed $81.5 million to justice reinvestment.
“There is now no excuse whatsoever why all state and territory governments do not now support Aboriginal-led designed and delivery of culturally responsive diversionary programs to break the intergenerational cycle of incarceration for our younger generations.”
Anoushka Jeronimus, Youth Law Program Director at WestJustice, Co-Convenor of Smart Justice for Young People, said that raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years old makes medical sense, public policy sense, and economic sense.
“It would ensure that children who are getting into trouble understand the impact of their behaviour whilst staying in school, getting healthy, getting a job, and reconnecting with their families. Anything less than 14, or with exceptions, ignores the evidence and risks further entrenching children experiencing serious disadvantage in the criminal justice system,” Jeronimus said.
“Right now, Victoria has one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the developed world and we’re spending over $5,000 per child per day to keep them in jail. And jailing isn’t working. Imagine the impact we could make on children, their families, and our community if that money was spent on providing the education, well-being and family support needed to keep them out of trouble instead.”
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