The Human Rights Law Centre has denounced Premier Allan for continuing to imprison children after breaking the promise to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027.

Premier Allan announced the heartless backflip on raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 today. Previously, the Victorian Government had committed to raising the age from ten to 12 by the end of this year, and to 14 by 2027.

Children belong with families and in schoolyards, not locked up behind bars. Raising the age to 14 is the bare minimum reform the Allan Government must make. Reneging on the promise represents a failure by the Victorian Government to uphold the human rights of Victorian children.

Advocates have been clear and consistent in their calls for the Victorian Government to act on the evidence and raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 consistent with the recommendations made by the Yoorrook Justice Commission, numerous parliamentary inquiries, United Nations bodies, medical advice and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experts.

Prison is devastating for children, and has lifelong impacts on their health, development, mental health and wellbeing. Evidence shows that the earlier a child is locked away in prison, the more the child is at risk of being entrenched in the criminal legal system and recriminalised later in life. 

Instead of locking children up in prisons, the Allan Government should be supporting the services that are ready to help children to learn from their mistakes in our communities.

Quotes attributed to Monique Hurley, Associate Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre: 

“No child should ever grow up in a prison. Premier Allan breaking the promise to raise the age to 14 by 2027 is a heartless move which will break children’s lives and cause avoidable lifelong harm. 

“Premier Allan’s capitulation to the police and conservative media is a betrayal of Victoria’s children. Instead of listening to the abundance of expert evidence from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, medical, child development, youth, legal and human rights groups on what works to help children and make the community safe, the Allan Government has yet again chosen a knee-jerk response that will continue to pipeline children into youth prisons.

“Every day that the Allan Government refuses to raise the age to at least 14 is another day of failing a generation of children who are being harmed and locked away behind bars. Children should be finishing primary school and starting high school, in our schoolyards and communities, supported by their families, not locked up behind bars. 

“Pipelining 12 and 13 year old children into youth prisons does not make the community safer. Safety is ensuring that every child has a secure home, is engaged at school, is connected with family and our community. Safety is supporting the services needed to help children avoid contact with – and the harms caused by – the criminal legal system in the first place.”

Media contact:
Thomas Feng
Engagement Director
0431 285 275
thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au