By CALLUM GODDE

An about-face on lifting the age a child can be charged with a crime in Victoria has sparked concerns on treaty and truth promises with Aboriginal people.

The Victorian government has reneged on a commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027, with some exceptions for serious offences.

The promise was made by former premier Daniel Andrews in 2023 but has been broken by his successor Jacinta Allan.

She argued the decision was “made at a different time by a different government with a different premier” when unveiling extra changes to youth justice legislation on Tuesday.

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight said Mr Andrews made an evidence-based commitment only for his successor to “bend the knee to a scare campaign run by Victoria Police and the Herald Sun”.

“The youth crime wave is a media narrative. It’s not reality,” she said.

“Youth crime rates remain at historical lows despite a post-COVID rebound and the medical evidence remains the same.

“The younger the child is at first contact with the legal system the higher the rate of recidivism so how does that equate to a safer community?”

 

The justification used by the premier to go back on the government’s word raises “concerns for important reforms and transformative processes moving forward”.

“Especially for me the treaty process,” Ms Waight said.

“Many of the ministers that made this decision in the cabinet room appeared at the Yoorrook Justice Commission and apologised for the racist policies of the past and promised to do better.

“The premier, the attorney-general, the youth justice minister … have certainly failed to keep that promise.”

Aboriginal children aged 10 to 17 were more than 10 times more likely to be imprisoned in Victoria in 2022/23 than non-Indigenous children, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

In July, the First People’s Assembly of Victoria declared it was ready to begin talks on a statewide treaty with the Victorian government as early as November.

Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg is deeply concerned the decision was made without properly consulting Indigenous groups or leading health and legal experts, given the laws disproportionately affect Aboriginal children.

“The premier has previously demonstrated she can work in good faith with First Peoples, but the decision taken yesterday is in stark contrast to this,” he said.

As Australia’s first truth-telling inquiry, Yoorrook confirmed it would recall key government witnesses in October to provide an update on progress, or lack thereof, on implementing criminal justice system recommendations.

“This decision is so contrary to the evidence it is difficult to comprehend – evidence heard by Yoorrook and countless other inquiries, commissions and coronial inquests over a period of decades,” its chair Eleanor Bourke said.

“Victoria’s current laws not only exacerbate existing inequalities, they fail to address the root causes of offending behaviour – poverty, trauma, and lack of access to support services.”

The Aboriginal Justice Caucus said the Labor government could no longer claim to be progressive.

“It’s very hard for our communities to trust governments that don’t deliver what they promise,” its co-chairs Marion Hansen and Chris Harrison said in a joint statement.

YOUTH JUSTICE CHANGES AT A GLANCE:

* Dump raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, will lift to 12

* Introduce new offence for committing a serious crime on bail for both youths and adults after recently repealing those of committing an indictable offence while on bail and breaching a bail condition

* Clarify the ability of police to apply for bail to be revoked after further offences have been committed

* Changes to the Bail Act to highlight aggravated burglary, carjacking and home invasion as crimes that pose an unacceptable community risk

* An additional Children’s Court magistrate and extra police prosecutors to manage repeat offenders

* An expert task force to track problematic cohort of up to 200 repeat serious youth offenders

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED REFORMS

* Trial electronic monitoring as a bail condition for repeat serious offenders

* More powers to transfer people under 18 to adult prisons if deemed a serious risk

* Lower the age for prosecuting someone for recruiting children into criminal activity from 21 to 18

* Legislate a scheme for warnings, cautions and diversions

EVENTS LEADING TO THE LATEST CHANGES

* Three high-profile deaths allegedly involving youths sparked months of public debate

* GP Ashley Gordon died following an alleged home invasion and confrontation with two 16-year-old boys in January

* Will Taylor, 28, died in a crash with a stolen Jeep allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy with five other teens inside in July

* Motorcyclist Davide Pollina died in a collision in Preston at the weekend involving an allegedly stolen car, with a 16-year-old boy arrested before being released

* Former premier Daniel Andrews pledged in 2023 to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027

* Bail laws were relaxed in March to ensure low-level offenders got bail following the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson, who died in a prison cell in 2020, with a coroner blasting bail laws at the time as a “complete and unmitigated disaster”

LAWS ELSEWHERE

* Children as young as 10 can be charged, convicted and imprisoned across Australia except in the Northern Territory, where the age is 12

* The ACT passed legislation to raise the age to 14 by 2025 with exceptions and Tasmania has promised to raise the minimum age of criminal detention to 14

AAP