ACT to Raise Age of Criminal Responsibility – What to Know

In a groundbreaking move, the ACT government has become Australia’s first jurisdiction endorsing an increase to the age of criminal responsibility. Children as young as ten can be sentenced to juvenile detention around the country. In a bold move, the ACT proposes to raise that minimum age at which a young person can be jailed to 14 years of age.

Recently, calls to amend the age threshold in criminal law cases reached an impasse. Attorneys-general in various state and territory legislatures agreed that there should be clear alternatives to full time imprisonment for reforming young offenders, but no government seemed willing to make the first move. 



The ACT government had previously reported that it would take a stance in line with national progress on the issue. However, upon the urging of nearly two dozen community sector organisations in Canberra, the Government has decided to change its position on the issue. Furthermore, Labor has committed to prioritising the reforms, should it win the ACT election in October.

According to reports, from 2008-2019 only one child under 14 was sentenced to detention at the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, and four children under 12 were held on remand.



Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Children, Youth and Families, said that children who are 10 to 13 years old are still too young to be deemed criminally responsible for their actions. According to her, it is more important to ensure that these children understand the consequences of their actions and have a therapeutic support system put in place that allows them to better integrate into society.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare published a report in 2019. In it, they said that any given night in Australia would show that about 53 per cent of young people in detention are indigenous. It is a startling rate, considering only 3.3 per cent of the nation’s population is indigenous.



Criminal lawyers and child advocates stress that this is something to correct. According to them, children should be in a system that supports them and prevents them from making these mistakes in the future. The earlier the intervention, the better chance there is for reform and these young children not coming to Court again as adults.

Raising the age of criminal liability means courts will not order that a person under 14 years of age be held in detention. Instead, the child must undergo community-based programs that emphasise rehabilitation and prevention. Alternatives to the punitive-based detention approach exist in the country and moving to raise the threshold will strengthen these.



Engaging juvenile offenders in vocational activities have shown to be productive in other developed nations. In the U.S., randomised clinical trials covering 30 months showed that compared to education-as-usual models, those engaged in community restitution programmes were more likely to end up with employment or a college diploma later on.

According to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, the age of criminal responsibility should be 14. Amnesty, the Law Council of Australia, Aboriginal Legal Services, health and community services, the Law Council of Australia, the Australian Medical Association, and many others, have all agreed.

In response, the ACT legislative assembly is looking to take the first steps towards fixing the problem, adding that “there is desirability of national consensus on the minimum age of criminal responsibility, but that this does not prevent a jurisdiction from making an independent decision to raise the age.”

For all matters relating to criminal law and criminal defence, consult with Andrew Byrnes Law Group. We are a Canberra law firm dedicated to providing the best legal advice and representation to our clients. Book a free conference with one of our criminal lawyers today for more information.