The ACT Greens continue to advocate for a restorative not punitive response to youth justice.
Today, the Legislative Assembly’s Justice and Community Safety Committee handed down its report into the Government’s bill to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Andrew Braddock MLA, ACT Greens Member for Yerrabi, while welcoming the reform overall, recommended in his additional comments that the ACT Government insert sunset clauses for the exceptions.
The current bill lists four offences that are excepted from the new minimum age of criminal responsibility. This means that children alleged of committing these offences could still be tried and imprisoned through the existing criminal justice system, instead of being diverted into the therapeutic services established in the bill.
A sunset clause would mean that, following a review planned in five years, the exceptions would lapse unless the government of the day makes a deliberate decision to retain them.
“The science is very clear, and so was the evidence before the committee, children aged 12 or 13 are unable to form criminal intent regardless of the offence. We know that children aged between 10 and 13 years who engage in criminal behaviour often do so because of trauma, abuse, or unmet needs. The right thing to do for these children, and for the community, is to divert them away from the criminal justice system and onto a therapeutic path.
“Therefore I support the ACT Human Rights Commission’s recommendation that the exceptions be subject to a sunset clause.
“This approach would make the law more compatible with the ACT Human Rights ACT whilst providing the ACT Government sufficient time to ensure necessary therapeutic services are in place.
“I reiterate that The Greens will support the bill in any case, and I thank my Cabinet colleagues for their work on this important reform. Community stakeholders, in conjunction with the ACT Greens have for years actively campaigned for the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be raised.”
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Previous ACT Greens statements on the criminal age of responsibility from May 2023, November 2022, November 2021, October 2021, June 2021, August 2020, and July 2020, are available at the links.
Full details of the committee inquiry are also available online.
