Long-suffering Canberra citizens are going to be used as guinea pigs for another social experiment, this time by our Greens Attorney-General raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years. All other states and the NT are considering raising it from 10 to 12.
The current law is that if a child is aged between 10 to 13 inclusive, they can be charged and convicted of a crime provided the court is satisfied they knew what they did was wrong. Unless it is a very serious offence, children that young are not locked up, and if they are, there are meant to be programs in juvenile justice institutions to help them rehabilitate. The system works.
Unfortunately, some young people (usually aged 12 or 13 years but sometimes younger) do commit serious crimes – right up to and including murder. A recent example that springs to mind is the brutal home invasion of Wallaby great Toutai Kefu’s Brisbane home by three 15-year-olds and one 13-year-old armed with machetes. The four were charged with attempted murder.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is backing Mr Rattenbury on this so it will become law. This means that if the 13-year-old Queenslander committed the attempted murder in the ACT, he would get off scot-free.
I have prosecuted and defended a number of disturbed 12- and 13-year-olds over the years for serious crimes like arson, robbery, and serious assaults. All of them knew what they were doing was wrong. Some came from dreadful homes and were safer in our then juvenile justice institution, Quamby, than they would be at home. I recall the officers at Quamby did their best to rehabilitate them – and in many cases succeeded.
Make no mistake, this experiment by the Greens/ALP government will lead to some Canberrans being seriously injured, suffer financial loss, and possibly even death at the hands of young people who will not be able to be prosecuted and, if need be, incarcerated for the community’s safety and for their own good. They may also miss out on rehabilitation.
At least in the rest of Australia the age will only be raised to 12. There are a lot fewer 10- and 11-year-olds committing serious crimes than there are 12- and 13-year-olds. Raising the age to 12 has some logic. Nearly all children up to 12 are in primary school and nearly all children 12-plus are in high school. Puberty usually kicks in at around the age of 12, too.
Many 13-year-olds are well into high school – Year 8 or 9. I cannot recall anyone I’ve met in Years 8 or 9 who didn’t know right from wrong.
Politicians rarely have to personally pay for the consequences of their actions and it will not be Mr Rattenbury and his Greens/ALP colleagues who will suffer the consequences of this move but ordinary Canberrans and, quite possibly, the young offenders themselves.
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Canberra Daily.
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