The age of criminal responsibility for children will be lifted to 12 years old after youth justice laws were passed by state Parliament.
The state government introduced the youth justice nill 2024 and several amendments to the bail act in a bid to address youth crime concerns.
The government said the bail act amendments included strengthening the bail test by making it crystal clear that bail decision-makers must assess both the risk to community safety and the risk of further serious offending when deciding if bail is appropriate.
The act will also be amended to specifically call out alarming crimes such as aggravated burglary or robbery, dangerous driving, carjacking or home invasion as explicit examples of offences that present an unacceptable risk to community safety.
The ability of police to apply for bail revocation for repeat offenders will be strengthened and clarified – with any offending or likely offending, or any serious breaches of bail conditions, grounds to seek revocation.
The government said it will also create a new separate offence for committing a serious crime – including aggravated burglary, carjacking, murder and rape – while on bail.
The youth justice bill provides appropriate measures to keep children out of the youth justice system and give them better outcomes such as the codification of doli incapax, the government said.
The bill also includes a trial of electronic monitoring and more intensive bail supervision, stronger powers to transfer young people aged over 18 to adult prison where they are a serious risk to others and more tailored sentencing options for courts to address the behaviour that led to the offending.
The bill will allow for more young people on bail or on remand to participate in treatment and rehabilitation without prejudicing their case – helping them get back on a better path, sooner.
It will also introduce more options for restorative justice – bringing offenders face to face with victims to hear directly about the harm they’ve caused, which is proven to help victims heal, while giving offenders real insight into the behaviour.
A new Youth Justice Victims Register will also be created, enabling victims to receive relevant updates and to provide information to the Youth Parole Board to help inform parole decisions.
Loopholes will be closed to crack down on those who seek to exploit children to do their dirty work, including lowering the age of prosecution for recruiting children into criminal activity from 21 to 18 years old.
Youth Justice Minister Enver Erdogan said the legislation is about providing modern, evidence-based and effective Youth Justice responses that keep the community safe, while giving young people the best possible chance to turn their lives around.
