Dr Justin Barker of the Therapeutic Support Panel says the evidence is clear when it came to raising the age of criminal responsibility. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
While there were concerns the ACT would not be ready to deal with today’s (1 July) increase to the age of criminal responsibility, one organisation supporting at-risk children doesn’t expect there will be any major change to their work.
“I know the media loves a moral panic around youth crime,” Therapeutic Support Panel chair Dr Justin Barker told Region, adding it was not a huge problem in the ACT.
“The idea that there is going to be a tidal wave of kids, I just don’t think it’s true.”
Dr Barker said since his panel began working 15 months ago, they’ve had around 90 referrals for children and worked with about 45 of them.
The panel currently works with about 20 children under the age of 14.
Dr Barker said more than half of children who have contact with police never offend again. Of the about 20 children before his panel, only two have been involved with the youth justice system historically.
“The research and our work to date suggests we are doing the right thing,” he said.
As of today, the ACT is the first jurisdiction in Australia to increase the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
This means children under this age cannot be held criminally responsible for their actions, except for 12- and 13-year-olds who commit extremely serious offences. Instead, they will be referred to support services to address their behaviour.
While the ACT’s top cop and peak body representing its police recently expressed concerns around the change, the ACT Government said support services would be ready.
Dr Barker said his panel had already been working with children under 14, knowing the increase was coming.
“I imagine there will be a slight uptick in referrals, but we are not expecting to be inundated,” he said.
When Dr Barker was asked about his thoughts on raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, he said the unmet needs of these children had to be met in order to increase community safety.
“I think everyone knows the evidence is clear, but Canberra is the only place that has gone, ‘okay, let’s do something about it’,” he said.
Michael Pettersson said most children referred to the Therapeutic Support Panel had very complex lives. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Therapeutic Support Panel was designed to address the root causes of harmful behaviours in children and young people, using services such as restorative justice, family group counselling and drug and alcohol support.
Children, Youth and Families Minister Michael Pettersson said the panel was a key part of the reforms introduced when the ACT raised the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 in 2023.
“Evidence shows that responding to children and young people engaging in harmful behaviours with a therapeutic approach, instead of punitive responses, is more likely to reduce the future likelihood of children and young people from engaging in harmful behaviour and that’s ultimately a big win for the community,” he said.
He said most of the children referred to the panel had very complex lives.
The main body that refers children to the panel is ACT Policing.
Dr Barker said once a child was referred to them, they assessed the child’s needs. For about half of their referrals, the child can have their needs met by existing supports in the community.
“Our focus is on what are the causes of the behaviours,” Dr Barker said.
He said the children who come before the panel were the community’s most at-risk or vulnerable and often have never previously been asked what was going on in their lives.
“These kids are themselves often very scared and struggling to cope in the environment they are living in,” he said.
“A lot of them have not a lot of reasons to trust adults.”
The panel has eight risk factors: police contact, education, mental health, disability, trauma, child protection proceedings, housing, as well as drug and alcohol use.
Dr Barker said on average, the panel’s clients have 5.5 of those factors.
He said the panel did hold the children accountable and they have seen the behaviour of a lot of them improve.
“It really starts with making them feel safe and addressing the issues in their lives,” he said.
