It’s time to do justice to our children
At 10 years of age a child will lose four baby teeth;
Is still watching PG rated films;
Isn’t allowed a Facebook page;
And can be sent to prison.
Yes, that’s right. In Australia a 10-year-old can be sent to prison.
We all know children belong in classrooms and playgrounds, not in handcuffs, courtrooms or prison cells.
And everyone knows that children do best when they are supported, nurtured and loved.
This was acknowledged internationally when, in September, 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that all nations raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
In February last year, in response to increasing calls to address this issue, the Council of AttorneysGeneral (CAG) opened a public consultation.
More than 80 submissions from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, human rights, medical and legal bodies and academics across Australia presented overwhelming evidence that children at this age do not have the mental capacity, nor have they reached a stage of moral development, to fully understand the impact or consequences of their behaviour.
The evidence also noted that it is overwhelmingly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who are being disproportionally impacted by these laws and pushed into prisons, making up 65 per cent of these younger children in prisons.
The low age of criminal responsibility is a key driver of their contact with police and the justice system.
The resulting report, based on this evidence, recommended the age be raised to 14.
Despite this report and over 100,000 people signing a petition calling on governments to raise the age, a meeting of federal, state and territory Attorneys-General in July last year to consider the report failed to act decisively. Instead it ‘‘identified the need for further work to occur regarding the need for adequate processes and services for children who exhibit offending behaviour’’.
There was no timeline given for when a decision would be made and repeated efforts to have the report made public in the interest of transparency and public accountability, have been ignored.
IT IS APPALLING FOR AUSTRALIA THAT FIVE YEARS SINCE THE LAST UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW, ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLE REMAIN THE MOST INCARCERATED PEOPLE ON EARTH...
— PRISCILLA ATKINS
Only the ACT has agreed to show national leadership, committing in November last year to work towards raising the age.
In June this year, the UN’s Universal Periodic Review, which involved 30 other countries scrutinising our human rights record, recommended that Australia raise the age of criminal responsibility so young children as young as 10 are not prosecuted and jailed.
These recommendations were rejected by the Australian Government.
Commenting on the Federal Government’s response, Priscilla Atkins, NATSILS co-chair, said: ‘‘It is appalling for Australia that five years since the last Universal Periodic Review, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain the most incarcerated people on earth, with a horrifying number of our young people trapped in the quicksand of the so-called justice system.
‘‘This Universal Periodic Review has been a missed opportunity for the Australian Government to reimagine the justice system and commit to ending the over-incarceration of our people, first and foremost by raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.’’
This was echoed by Meena Singh, Human Rights Law Centre legal director, who said: ‘‘Australia was given an opportunity to show national and international leadership by committing to raise the age of criminal responsibility and accepting other vital recommendations.
‘‘Instead, it continued to fail Australian children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, by refusing to raise the age. This means 10-year-old kids will continue to be prosecuted and locked up, and put on a path to adult offending.
‘‘Children belong in playgrounds, not in police and prison cells’’.
As Sophie Trevitt, executive officer of Change the Record, Australia’s only national Aboriginal-led justice coalition, pointed out, in the 12 months since the federal, state and territory governments failed to progress this vital reform, almost 500 children around the country have been incarcerated.
These figures are shocking.
Pause for a minute to consider a child you know who is 10 years old.
At this age, ‘‘children’s brains are still developing throughout these formative years where they have limited capacity for reflection before action,’’ the Raise the Age Campaign says.
‘‘Children in grades four, five and six are not at a cognitive level of development where they are able to fully appreciate the nature of their actions or the lifelong consequences of being labelled a criminal.
‘‘Children aged 10 to 13 years lack emotional, mental and intellectual maturity to really understand the consequences of their actions — this is why locking kids up is not only cruel, it doesn’t work.
‘‘The best way to prevent future offending, to make our communities safer and to give children the best possible chance of a good life, is to support and build the capacity of families, engage and support kids to stay in school, address family violence and housing instability, and identify and respond to health and disability needs.’’
We all understand every child deserves to be healthy and the opportunity to reach their potential. In order to achieve this goal, more must be done to ensure children receive help and support including better access to mental health care, mentoring, education and employment opportunities.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait organisations and communities know what needs to be done to help and support their children: they know community-run services keep families together.
When kids make mistakes, what they need is support and guidance, not being targeted by police and locked in prison.
In recognition of the importance of this issue, Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman recently proposed a private members bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility.
The bill, introduced on September 15, would lift the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years in Queensland.
Mr Berkman said the current laws were ineffective, out of line with international jurisdictions and in breach of human rights obligations.
We need the federal, state and territory governments to show real leadership, to stop delaying and to commit to raising the age of criminal responsibility now.
To do anything else is to fail our Australian children.
So what can you do to support the #Raise the Age Campaign?
Sign the petition at https://www.raisetheage .org.au/
Read the submissions to the Council of AttorneysGeneral at https:/ /www.raisetheage.org. au/cag-submissions
Write to your state and federal MP’s calling on them to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years. Visit https://www. changetherecord.org.au/ RaiseTheAge for details to write to the Victorian Premier.
Watch the film Incarceration Nation on SBS On demand.