“The younger a child is when they come into contact with the criminal justice system, the more likely it is they will have further contact with the system across their lifetimes.”
Evidence has proven time and time again that policing, arresting and imprisoning young children not only harms the child but also fails to keep communities safe in the long term. Encountering the criminal justice system at such a young, vulnerable age can increase the likelihood of reoffending. This is especially concerning as children who exhibit criminal behaviour often have a variety of needs that are failing to be met.
A recent NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) report found that the children sent to court were overwhelmingly from disadvantaged backgrounds with more than half being a victim of a violent offence and about a third having accessed a specialist homelessness service. Moreover, a quarter of the children were found not guilty and just over half had all charges withdrawn. Cycling these vulnerable children through courts and police cells undoubtedly causes further trauma and mistrust of the justice system, rendering it counterproductive in preventing future criminal behaviour.
The punitive nature of the current age of criminal responsibility is particularly dangerous for Aboriginal children. According to the BOCSAR Report, 41.3% of the children brought to legal proceedings by police in the last decade were Aboriginal. Out of the 171 children sent to youth detention in 2023 on remand, 60% were Aboriginal. Children in regional, remote or very remote communities were also three times as likely as children in major cities to be involved in legal proceedings by police. As affirmed by Jonathon Hunyor, CEO of the Justice and Equity Centre,
‘Children are being criminalised for their disadvantage.’
Resources must be diverted to community justice investments rather than wasted on court processes and imprisonment. This is vital to meet the needs of the child and to deliver community safety. As proposed by Raise the Age NSW in a submission to the NSW parliamentary inquiry into community safety, measures such as resourcing and supporting community-level organisations and improving services such as public health and public education to target underlying problems, will prove far more effective. As Henry Rajendra, President of the NSW Teachers Federation, states, ‘instead of criminalising young people we must invest in giving them the support they need for a decent shot at life.’
Joining hands with 13 organisations, led by Raise the Age NSW, The NSWCCL echoes the call to raise the age minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years old. We urge the NSW Government to embrace the evidence and work towards redirecting resources. As President, Lydia Shelly, stated, ‘We know locking kids up does not work to support them or the communities they live in. This report provides stark evidence to show that more punitive laws are counterproductive, and they fail to address the root causes of the issue. We must move on from superficial ‘tough on crime’ solutions. Children and their families deserve community-led justice reinvestment projects, which identify and implement locally tailored strategies to reduce crime and improve social outcomes.’
Locking up children does not work. Raising the age of criminal responsibility and prioritising justice reinvestment is part of the solution.
