In early December, Tasmania became the first state to commit to raise the age of criminal responsibility.
The announcement comes after five years of campaigning with more than 200,000 signatures, thousands of phone calls and emails, and sustained lobbying efforts.
The Tasmanian government committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 for all children, with no exceptions. They also committed to raising the age of detention to 16 and significant investment in supports to keep children in families and communities.
The Tasmanian government has committed to raising the age by 2029.
Australia has one of the youngest ages of criminal responsibility in the world. All states and territories have a minimum age of ten years old, with the exception of the Northern Territory, which is 12 years old.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are incarcerated up to 17 times the rate of non-Indigenous children in Australia, making them one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in the criminal justice system. Of all children under 14 years old imprisoned in Australia between 2017 to 2021, 65 percent were Indigenous and 68 percent hadn’t even been convicted of any crime.
The 2023 Synod meeting called on the NSW and ACT governments to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years old.
The Synod’s Director for First Peoples Strategy and Engagement, Nathan Tyson, introduced the proposal.
“We’re not saying that people should not be responsible for the things they do, but that they should not be criminally responsible,” Mr Tyson said.
