The age a child can be arrested, charged and jailed in Australia is back in the spotlight.

Last year, the Northern Territory became the first jurisdiction to raise the age of criminal responsibility from ten to 12. Now its new, tough-on-crime government has pledged to return it to ten. It comes after Victoria walked back its earlier commitment to raise the age to 14, settling instead on 12.

But the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child says 14 should be the absolute minimum. It raised this age from its earlier recommendation (in 2007) of 12, citing a decade of new research into child and adolescent development.

So what does the science say? What happens to the brain between ten and 14? And how much can those under 14 understand the consequences of their actions?

Read the article here. Authors Susan M. Sawyer & Nandi Vijayakumar.