Image:Images: Shutterstock – Jan H Andersen

The Council of Attorneys General have been deliberating on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child call for the age of criminal responsibility to be set at 14.

Canada, France, Germany, Venezuela and Norway were among the 31 nations that called on Australia to raise the age from the current age of 10.

This means a 10 year old can be held criminally responsible and turned over to the criminal justice system.  The effect of this is that a disproportionate amount of Indigenous children end up arrested and incarcerated.   The answer could be for greater reliance on community to look after children, and therefore more support of community based solutions.  To do this, the criminal justice system needs to be utilised much less.

Produced By: Roderick Chambers

Featured In Story: Jonathon Hunyor CEO Public Interest Advocacy Centre

First aired on The Wire, Monday 15 November 2021