Jacinta Allan accused of treachery after ‘heartless’ backflip to raise the age of criminal responsibility

The Victorian government has been accused of betraying Indigenous people after sensationally abandoning a promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

Premier Jacinta Allan on Tuesday announced the backflip on the long-advocated reform ahead of state parliament resuming.

The state government is pushing on with legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 and other youth justice changes.

It originally planned, under former premier Daniel Andrews, to lift the age to 14 by 2027, with exceptions for serious offences such as rape and murder.

But following a series of prominent incidents involving youth offenders, including two fatal car crashes in less than two months, the government has watered down the reforms.

“Twelve is where it will stay,” Ms Allan told reporters on Tuesday.

“This decision has been made at a different time by a different government with a different premier.”

No children under 14 were currently incarcerated in Victoria, she said.

“The way we keep it that way is passing the youth justice bill that’s before the parliament because it is transformative reform,” Ms Allan said.

The government will move amendments to the contentious bill in the upper house.

They include changes to the Bail Act to highlight aggravated burglary, carjacking and home invasion as crimes that pose an unacceptable community risk and a new charge of committing a serious offence while on bail for adults and children.

The moves will result in fewer people being released while awaiting trial.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes argued the new bail offence was different from those of breaching conditions and committing further offences while on bail that were repealed in March.

“It was remanding vulnerable cohorts,” she said.

“What we’re bringing back is an offence for committing high-end serious harm.”

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton welcomed the backflip and the targeting of dangerous driving, aggravated burglary, home invasion and armed robbery.

“These are the offences we want to protect the community from and this will give us the power and the authority to do it,” he said.

But the backdown on raising the age to 14 has led to fierce backlash from Indigenous, legal and youth groups.

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight described it as a decision to abandon Indigenous children, labelling it “treacherous”.

Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Eleanor Bourke said it would unleash a “tsunami of disappointment” among their communities.

“This decision means our people will continue to suffer for generations to come,” Yoorrook deputy chair Sue-Anne Hunter said.

The Human Rights Commission said the “heartless move” would “break children’s lives and cause avoidable lifelong harm”, accusing the premier of capitulating to police and conservative media. It said raising the age to 14 was the “bare minimum”.

Save the Children and Jesuit Social Services also criticised the decision.

Children as young as 10 can be charged, convicted and imprisoned across Australia, except in the Northern Territory, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in August 2023.

The ACT passed legislation to raise the age to 14 by 2025 with some exceptions, while Tasmania has pledged to raise the minimum age of criminal detention to 14.

Police are still searching for the driver of a stolen BMW that struck and killed 19-year-old motorcyclist Davide Pollina at Preston on Sunday.

A 16-year-old boy suspected passenger of the BMW was arrested before being released.

William Taylor, 28, and GP Ashley Gordon were killed in July and January respectively following incidents allegedly involving teenagers.

The number of alleged offenders in the 15 to 17 age bracket spiked by almost 25 per cent to 15,495 in the year to March.