August 13, 2024 | Katie Wand
The Federation is deeply disappointed by the Victorian Government’s decision to go back on its pledge to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027.
Together with Community Legal Centres and Aboriginal Legal Services, the Federation will continue to advocate for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 14, in line with health research on child development, international human rights standards and recommendations of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and various parliamentary inquiries.
The Federation is also concerned by the government’s decision to introduce tougher bail laws for repeat offenders. The changes to the Bail Act announced today will mean that a person can be remanded if there is an “unacceptable risk” that they could commit offences such as aggravated burglary, carjacking, dangerous driving or family violence. A new offence will also be created for committing a serious crime while on bail, after the Victorian Government recently removed the offence of breaching bail.
These changes are in stark contrast to the views previously expressed by the Victorian Government that strict bail laws disproportionately capture low-level offending, resulting in the over-representation of people experiencing vulnerability, including people at risk of homelessness, Aboriginal Victorians and people with disabilities.
We reaffirm our commitment to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, and to investing in therapeutic and rehabilitative programs for children and young people as an alternative to incarceration, to address the underlying causes of offending, such as trauma, family violence and abuse.
Louisa Gibbs, CEO at the Federation of Community Legal Centres said:
“Children belong in playgrounds and classrooms, not police stations and prisons. There’s a huge amount of evidence to back our position that responding in a punitive way to children who commit offences isn’t working. We are surprised by today’s announcement, which represents a significant backstep in the progress that the Victorian Government has made to reduce youth crime and keep children and young people out of trouble.
“Despite these disappointing changes, we recognise that the Youth Justice Bill is still an improvement on the current system, albeit a step forward rather than the leap it could have been. We will continue to work with government to ensure that children and young people are safe.”
