The Tasmanian Government has committed to raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years in its Youth Justice Blueprint which has been released this month.
The Government has committed to this move with no exceptions and raising the minimum age of detention to 16 by 2029.
The Human Rights Law Centre said Tasmania was set to become the first Australian state jurisdiction to meet the minimum standards set by the United Nations. The Australian Capital Territory is the only jurisdiction to legislate raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
Tasmanian Legal Services CEO Jake Smith said: “While we are pleased to see the Tasmanian Government’s commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, without exception, six years to see this come to fruition is disappointing. The longer we wait, the more children end up in our justice system.”
Queensland Law Society has strongly advocated in support of amendments to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years.
However the Queensland Parliament previously voted down a Bill to raise the criminal age of responsibility from 10 to 14.
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