Raise the Age #RaisetheAge

I join the 100 medical, legal and human rights organisations in calling to Raise the Age for criminal responsibility to at least 14.

Victoria cannot renege on its commitment to further raise the age by 2027.

As a former teacher, I cannot comprehend a 12-year-old child in Year 6 or 7 being subjected to adult criminal proceedings.

In NSW, Queensland and the NT, the age of criminal responsibility is 10 years old – that is a child in Year 5 or 6. Australia is flouting United Nations recommendations, systematically disadvantaging Indigenous children and creating an adult recidivism problem.

https://raisetheage.org.au

The Raise the Age campaign is a national advocacy movement calling on all Australian governments to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years old. [1, 2]

The campaign is led by a coalition of over 100 medical, legal, and human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Law Centre, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), and Victoria Legal Aid. [1, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Status in Victoria (2026 Update)

As of September 30, 2025, Victoria officially raised the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years old. [5, 7]

The “Backflip”: While the government originally committed to reaching 14 by 2027, the Allan Labor Government abandoned this promise in August 2024, citing concerns over “youth crime” and media pressure.
Current Law: Children under 12 are now conclusively presumed incapable of committing an offence. For those aged 12 and 13, the legal principle of doli incapax has been strengthened under the Youth Justice Act 2024, requiring prosecutors to prove the child knew their actions were “morally wrong”. [7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Core Arguments for the Campaign

Child Development: Medical experts argue that children under 14 have not sufficiently developed the emotional and intellectual maturity to be held criminally liable.
International Standards: The United Nations recommends 14 as the absolute minimum age, making Australia’s low threshold an international outlier.
Recidivism: Research shows that the younger a child is at their first sentence, the more likely they are to become entrenched in the adult prison system.
Racial Equity: First Nations children are 9 times more likely to be in custody than non-Indigenous children, often for minor offences that could be handled through social services. [3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]

National Landscape (State-by-State)

ACT: Currently the only jurisdiction to have reached the target of 14 years old (as of July 2025).
Northern Territory: In a major setback for the campaign, the NT government lowered the age back to 10 in October 2024, following a 2023 increase to 12.
Tasmania: Committed to raising the age of detention to 14 by 2029.
NSW & QLD: Currently remain at 10 years old, with no active legislative plans to increase the age. [5, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19]