August 21, 2024 | Katie Wand
The Victorian Legislative Council passed the Youth Justice Bill last Thursday in a late night sitting, with a number of amendments. The Bill will return to the Legislative Assembly in two weeks, where it is expected to pass without further amendments.
The Federation welcomes the Youth Justice Bill as a step in the right direction towards a youth justice system that is fair. However, we note that several areas of concern remain. We will continue to work with government to create positive change for children and young people who come into contact with the criminal legal system.
Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12
One key measure in the Youth Justice Bill is the commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. This is an important step forward, but falls short of calls from Aboriginal, human rights, legal and medical groups to urgently raise the age to 14 years old in the Bill without exceptions.
System improvements
Every child should be free to go to school, have a safe home to live in and be supported to learn from their mistakes.
The Youth Justice Bill implements a range of positive reforms to this end, including more child-centred guiding principles for the youth justice system, the codification of the presumption of doli incapax and a presumption against custodial sentences for 12- and 13-year-olds, and implementation of a diversion scheme, including a sentencing hierarchy aimed at diverting children towards community-based supports. The Bill would also prohibit the use of solitary confinement and strengthen restrictions on the use of force, isolation and searches in youth prisons.
We believe that these changes will have a positive impact on diverting children away from police stations and prisons and towards community programs that work to help them.
Positive amendments tabled by the Greens were added to the Bill last week, including banning the use of spit hoods on children in youth custody detention and implementing mechanisms for improving transparency and oversight over how children are treated in youth prisons.
Areas of concern
Despite many positive measures in the Bill, we remain concerned about a number of changes that will have a negative affect on children and communities, that were introduced since it was tabled in June. We remain deeply concerned about the inclusion of trialling electronic monitoring of children on bail, the introduction of new police powers that will authorise the use of force, search and seizure, transport and taking a child under the age of criminal responsibility to a police station, and a provision that will make it easier to transfer 16- and 17-year-old children to adult prisons.
Community Legal Centres also expressed concern about government amendments passed last week to unacceptable risk and revocation of bail provisions in the Bail Act that will increase the numbers of children and adults imprisoned on remand for certain offences. These amendments wind back important improvements to bail passed in the Victorian Parliament last year, and will drive up already high numbers of children and adults locked in prisons without charge for months awaiting trial.
Louisa Gibbs, CEO at the Federation of Community Legal Centres said:
“The Youth Justice Bill includes many positive reforms that are long overdue, and we are pleased and relieved that it is finally looking like these will become law.
“The Bill is far from perfect – but we are confident that the continued advocacy of Victorian Community Legal Centres will lead to the creation of a system that is fit for purpose, fair, and safe for everyone in the future.
“I thank Community Legal Centres and allied organisations for their advocacy on this issue, and all the parliamentarians who voted in support of this landmark piece of legislation.”
