The past month has seen several important developments in youth justice legislation and policy across the country.
A new Youth Justice Bill was passed in the Victorian Legislative Council on Friday 16 August 2024. The Bill will make significant changes to laws relating to children in Victoria, including several changes to bail laws.
This includes the introduction of a new bail-related offence; provisions relating to electronic monitoring of young people on bail; and more intensive bail supervision.
Age of criminal responsibility
Despite an earlier commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years, the Allan Labor government in Victoria confirmed there has been a significant policy shift and the Bill was amended to raise the age
to 12.
Following the success of the Country Liberal party at the latest Northern Territory state elections on 24 August 2024, the new government has indicated an intention to lower the age of criminal responsibility back to 10 years.
The relevant legislation was changed in August last year, when the NT became one of the first Australian jurisdictions –alongside the Australian Capital Territory – to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12. However, following the recent election, the Country Liberal Party has promised to lower the age back to 10, as well as committing to other legislative and policy changes relating to youth offending. Incoming Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has justified the decision by stating that the criminal justice system provides greater opportunities for accountability for problem behaviour, and in a recent article explained, ‘we’re lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 so that young people can be held accountable and that appropriate consequences for their age can be delivered, such as boot camps’.
Children in custody
The Tasmanian Minister for Children and Youth Roger Jaensch recently advised there may be further delay in closing Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
Former Premier Peter Gutwein first announced the government’s pledge to close the facility in September 2021, following evidence of abuse and harm experienced by children detained at the centre throughout the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.
While the facility was due to be closed by 2024, the government later announced the closure would be delayed until 2026 – a deadline which now may not be met.
On 30 August 2024, it was reported that an Aboriginal child detained at Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Western Australia had died by suicide. The 17-year-old boy was found unresponsive in his cell, and his death is currently under investigation.
This is the second death of a child in custody in WA in the last 12 months, following the death of Cleveland Dodd, an Aboriginal child who died after self-harming in 2016. Cleveland , a 16-year-old Yamatji boy, had been transferred to a cell at Unit 18 at Casuarina Prison, an adult facility, approximately eight days before his death. Speaking prior to his inquest (held earlier this year), Cleveland’s mother, Nadene, expressed hope the court would find out the truth about what happened, stating, “I want to know what happened to my son. You’d think that a kid would be safe in a place that is watched 24/7 and you’d think that they will come home to you safe. My son didn’t come home to me.”
A recent inquest investigated conditions within the detention centre which may have contributed to Dodd’s death, including ongoing lockdowns, staffing shortages and a lack of access to health and mental health support.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is calling for urgent actions and reforms to better protect children involved in the criminal legal and detention systems.
The past month has seen several important developments in youth justice legislation and policy across the country.
A new Youth Justice Bill was passed in the Victorian Legislative Council on Friday 16 August 2024. The Bill will make significant changes to laws relating to children in Victoria, including several changes to bail laws.
This includes the introduction of a new bail-related offence; provisions relating to electronic monitoring of young people on bail; and more intensive bail supervision.
Age of criminal responsibility
Despite an earlier commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years, the Allan Labor government in Victoria confirmed there has been a significant policy shift and the Bill was amended to raise the age
to 12.
Following the success of the Country Liberal party at the latest Northern Territory state elections on 24 August 2024, the new government has indicated an intention to lower the age of criminal responsibility back to 10 years.
The relevant legislation was changed in August last year, when the NT became one of the first Australian jurisdictions –alongside the Australian Capital Territory – to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12. However, following the recent election, the Country Liberal Party has promised to lower the age back to 10, as well as committing to other legislative and policy changes relating to youth offending. Incoming Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has justified the decision by stating that the criminal justice system provides greater opportunities for accountability for problem behaviour, and in a recent article explained, ‘we’re lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 so that young people can be held accountable and that appropriate consequences for their age can be delivered, such as boot camps’.
Children in custody
The Tasmanian Minister for Children and Youth Roger Jaensch recently advised there may be further delay in closing Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
Former Premier Peter Gutwein first announced the government’s pledge to close the facility in September 2021, following evidence of abuse and harm experienced by children detained at the centre throughout the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.
While the facility was due to be closed by 2024, the government later announced the closure would be delayed until 2026 – a deadline which now may not be met.
On 30 August 2024, it was reported that an Aboriginal child detained at Banksia Hill Detention Centre in Western Australia had died by suicide. The 17-year-old boy was found unresponsive in his cell, and his death is currently under investigation.
This is the second death of a child in custody in WA in the last 12 months, following the death of Cleveland Dodd, an Aboriginal child who died after self-harming in 2016. Cleveland , a 16-year-old Yamatji boy, had been transferred to a cell at Unit 18 at Casuarina Prison, an adult facility, approximately eight days before his death. Speaking prior to his inquest (held earlier this year), Cleveland’s mother, Nadene, expressed hope the court would find out the truth about what happened, stating, “I want to know what happened to my son. You’d think that a kid would be safe in a place that is watched 24/7 and you’d think that they will come home to you safe. My son didn’t come home to me.”
A recent inquest investigated conditions within the detention centre which may have contributed to Dodd’s death, including ongoing lockdowns, staffing shortages and a lack of access to health and mental health support.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is calling for urgent actions and reforms to better protect children involved in the criminal legal and detention systems.
Investing in early intervention
A new report from the National Children’s Commissioner highlighted the importance of embedding children’s rights into policy and practice, and called for a significant increase in investment in early intervention and prevention initiatives for young people involved in the justice system.
The report, entitled ‘Help way earlier!’ How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing’, includes the voices of children with lived experience of the legal system, as well as experiences from communities and organisations working in the areas of youth justice and child health and wellbeing.
In her forward to the report, Anne Hollonds, the National Children’s Commissioner, makes the following observation:
“It is clear that, to date, we have approached offending by children the wrong way. We cannot ‘police’ our way out of this problem, and the evidence shows that locking up children does not make the community safer. We need to turn our attention and our resources to the underlying causes, and to the barriers that stop us taking national action on evidence-based systems reform.”
The report outlines how most children within the criminal legal system have complex unmet needs, and makes a case for the positive impact of early intervention to address problems such as homelessness, financial insecurity and health issues which can lead to criminal behaviour.
Investing in early intervention
A new report from the National Children’s Commissioner highlighted the importance of embedding children’s rights into policy and practice, and called for a significant increase in investment in early intervention and prevention initiatives for young people involved in the justice system.
The report, entitled ‘Help way earlier!’ How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing’, includes the voices of children with lived experience of the legal system, as well as experiences from communities and organisations working in the areas of youth justice and child health and wellbeing.
In her forward to the report, Anne Hollonds, the National Children’s Commissioner, makes the following observation:
“It is clear that, to date, we have approached offending by children the wrong way. We cannot ‘police’ our way out of this problem, and the evidence shows that locking up children does not make the community safer. We need to turn our attention and our resources to the underlying causes, and to the barriers that stop us taking national action on evidence-based systems reform.”
The report outlines how most children within the criminal legal system have complex unmet needs, and makes a case for the positive impact of early intervention to address problems such as homelessness, financial insecurity and health issues which can lead to criminal behaviour.
