Stop putting kids in prison: Australian Governments told

This week all Australian Attorneys-General will have a historic opportunity to promote the rights of children with a commitment to raise the age at which children can be locked up.

Currently across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested, charged with an offence, hauled before a court and locked away in prison.

The Council of Attorneys-General will today meet to consider a report from a working group tasked to consider raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 years old. 

The current minimum age of criminal responsibility in Australia is out of step with international human rights standards and medical science on child development. 

Child rights experts, Aboriginal peaks and leading social services, health, legal and youth advocacy organisations and the United Nations have all called on Australian Governments to raise the age.

Cheryl Axleby, co-chair of National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and Change the Record said outdated laws were harming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids.

“The research is clear - raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 is necessary to end the over-incarceration of our children. We need to children learn and grow with culturally appropriate supports, not tear them from our families. It’s time to stop locking up children as young as 10 in harmful prisons.”

Shahleena Musk, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said that when it comes to children’s rights, Australian governments are hopelessly out of step with best practice and international law.

“As a society we should be doing all that we can to protect, support and help our children. Ten year old kids belong in schools and playgrounds, not in prisons, but Australia’s archaic laws are ripping children from their families, community and culture and throwing them into concrete cells. Decent politicians, would raise the age of criminal responsibility,” said Musk.

Arthur Moses SC, President of the Law Council of Australia said children do not belong in prison cells.

“Prison should not be a rite of passage for any child. Children belong in their communities with their families and guardians, not in detention. Imprisonment should be a last resort when it comes to children, not a first step. The incarceration of children as young as 10 is a national tragedy.”

Tammy Solonec, Indigenous Rights Manager with Amnesty International Australia said expert bodies the world over recommend a minimum age of criminal responsibility of at least 14 and it’s time for Australia to raise its game.

“People in Australia want to see children thriving in their families and communities, not locked behind bars. More than 57,000 people signed our petition calling on governments to raise the age as soon as possible.”

Dr Mick Creati, Paediatrician and Adolescent Physician, said that the medical evidence is clear – developmentally, children are very different to adults.

“Children under 14 years have relatively immature brain development when it comes to decision-making, organisation, impulse control and planning for their future. We shouldn’t criminalise actions that may be developmentally normal for children of this age and they should not be incarcerated as a consequence.”

Media contact:
Sonia Sofat, (for Cheryl Axleby) Communications Adviser, NATSILS: 0407 780 643 
Michelle Bennett, Communications Director, Human Rights Law Centre, 0419 100 519

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MichelleBennettPrisoner Rights, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Rights