Chief Police Officer Scott Lee is concerned about the upcoming increase in the age of criminal responsibility. Photo: Albert McKnight.
While Canberra’s top cop and the peak body representing its police officers have expressed concerns around the upcoming increase in the age of criminal responsibility, the ACT Government has reassured the community that support services will be ready to handle the change.
The ACT will officially raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 on 1 July.
This means children under this age cannot be held criminally responsible for their actions in the Territory, except for 12- and 13-year-olds who commit extremely serious offences. Instead, they will be referred to support services to address their behaviour.
Data from ACT Policing shows there were 153 apprehensions of children aged 12 to 13 in 2023, which resulted in 254 charges being laid.
In 2024, police made 123 apprehensions of children in this age range, resulting in 238 charges.
An ACT Policing spokesperson said the most common crime type for this cohort included assault, theft, property damage and breach of bail/breach of court orders.
“What will change are the options available to police when a person aged under 14 is found to have been involved in an incident and our engagement with services to divert children and young people away from the criminal justice system,” the spokesperson said.
In some cases a responsible adult for a young person couldn’t be easily located, the spokesperson said, which then required government and other support agencies to provide the role.
“What is important is ensuring that those support services are in place and available to police when needed, including after hours and on weekends and public holidays,” the spokesperson said.
Australian Federal Police Association’s Alex Caruana said the change risked placing additional pressures on police. Photo: Albert McKnight.
While Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana said his organisation supported the principle behind this reform, it believed it risked placing additional pressure on police without knowing if adequate support systems and networks were in place.
He said police were not equipped to be social workers or youth care providers.
“They don’t have the time or resources to supervise or babysit young people taken into care or custody by police, who ideally, need to be under the care of specialist services such as the Safer Youth Response Service or the ACT’s Community Services Directorate,” Mr Caruana said.
“Substantial investment in alternative programs and services to address harmful behaviour by young people aged 10 to 13 must be made for this reform to succeed.
“Without these, ACT Policing’s ability to manage youth offending and ensure community safety could be compromised, particularly for serious offences where exceptions apply for 12- and 13-year-olds.”
Police Minister Marisa Paterson said police have been training for the upcoming changes. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
On Wednesday (18 June), Police Minister Marisa Paterson said she believed the services were in place.
“We have the Safer Youth Service which [is] just transitioning to a 24-hour service that will be able to respond to police when they do have a young person that comes into their contact,” she said.
She also said the Therapeutic Support Panel had been in place for the last year. Police had undertaken significant training over the last month on the changes, she said.
Earlier this week, ACT Chief Police Officer Scott Lee told ABC Canberra he was concerned the support services would not be fully in place.
He said although it was a positive development that the Safer Youth Service would be available 24/7 with permanent staff in place or on call, he still had concerns.
“We still need to work closely with other parts of government to ensure that those services meet the needs of MACR [the minimum age of criminal responsibility], and I think we’re going to need to stay agile to ensure that they are in place and they are available, particularly to my police officers where they need them 24/7,” he said.
Attorney-General Tara Cheyne accepted Mr Lee had concerns, but she was confident the change would take place smoothly.
“The more that you have contact with the justice system at a young age, the more likely you are to continue to have contact with it. So that costs everybody, and every person in the community, when that occurs,” she said.
But Shadow Police and Community Safety Minister Deborah Morris of the Canberra Liberals was concerned at the speed the government was implementing the change.
“I fear that this will make children in Canberra less safe and it will also put police in a very difficult position of not knowing how to do their job,” she said.
“From what we’ve heard, the therapeutic diversionary services are not ready for this transition and this is going to be a significant transition.
“I’m also concerned that vulnerable young children will be targeted by organised crime because they know that a child who’s under the age of criminal responsibility will encounter less resistance from authorities.”
