Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years.

Abstract

At 10 years of age, Australia and New Zealand have one of the lowest ages for criminal responsibility across the developed world. Evidence shows that children under 14 years of age are not mature enough to be considered criminally responsible people. Children of this age do not have the ability to advocate for themselves within the criminal justice system, which is systematically biased in how it deals with the youngest offenders. The over-representation of Indigenous youth within the justice system is seen at its most extreme in the 10-14 years age group, and contact with the criminal justice system at this age is strongly associated with re-offending, and is considered 'criminogenic'. Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility is likely to decrease overall rates of youth offending, and reduce the over-representation of Indigenous children at all points of contact with the criminal justice system.