Should fifth and sixth graders go to jail? The idea seems ludicrous, but the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in Australia is only 10 years old: one of the lowest in the first world.
The UN has called on Australia to lift its game and raise the minimum age – and the ACT could become the first jurisdiction to do so. Early next year, the local government will introduce a bill to raise the minimum age to 14.
Today, the ACT Government released a discussion paper, ‘Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility’, to seek public comment before drafting legislation.
The paper covers four primary areas, Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury explained: should we raise the MACR; decriminalising behaviour of children and young people (addressing their needs rather than involving them in the criminal justice system); victim rights and supports; and technical and legal questions (spent convictions, police powers).
The public has until 5 August to comment.
“Ten-year-olds at the moment right across Australia – including here in the ACT – can be arrested by police, held in remand, go before the courts, and ultimately be imprisoned,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Our view is that 10-year-olds should be in primary school, not in prison. This is the fundamental reform that we are seeking to make.”
Reforms would give children the support they needed to be better young people, and make the whole community safer by ensuring young offenders did not become adult criminals, Mr Rattenbury said.
By raising the minimum age, he hoped the ACT would lay a path others would follow.
“They’ll see that it can work; you can have a system that embraces young people and supports them rather than punishes them.”
The ACT Government has also committed $120,000 for an independent review, led by Emeritus Professor Morag McArthur, to identify ways to better support children and young people if the MACR is raised. This review is also due in August.
Social services welcome ACT proposal
Earlier this year, nearly 50 organisations called for the Council of Attorneys-General to raise the minimum age nationally to 14 without any exceptions.
The organisations – including the ACT Council of Social Services (ACTCOSS) and the ACT Human Rights Commission – claimed that the current minimum age breached international human rights laws or international standards, and contributed to the over-representation of Indigenous children in prison.
ACTCOSS’s Dr Emma Campbell applauded the ACT Government on progressing this critical reform.
The Mental Health Community Coalition of the ACT (MHCC ACT) also commended the ACT Government on the Raise the Age Discussion Paper. MHCC ACT strongly supports an alternative approach based on access to wrap around early supports for vulnerable children and their families in the ACT.
“Raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years is the first step in better supporting the children of our community,” said CEO Bec Cody. What is needed now is a more holistic support system that identifies vulnerable children and their families early to mitigate the risk of them entering the criminal justice system.”
According to Mr Rattenbury, ACT Policing also saw benefits and supported the government’s justice reinvestment agenda; they were frustrated to see the same faces, or the children of offenders, come through the justice system.
A spokesperson said ACT Policing would make a submission to the discussion paper as part of the consultation process.
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