If you commit the crime, you have to do the time. No matter what age.
Children as young as 10 can be locked behind bars yet again in Australia’s Northern Territory after its government lowered the age for criminal responsibility.
The country’s states and territories have been pressured as of late to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 to be in line with other countries and United Nations advice, BBC News reported.
In 2023, the Northern Territory became the first in the country to boost the age to 12, but the newly-elected Country Liberal Party reversed that decision, arguing the move was needed to reduce youth crime rates.
The territorial government maintained the age should return to 10, stating the change would ultimately protect kids — despite opposition from human rights organizations, Indigenous groups and medical doctors.
Opponents argued that research shows laws alone won’t reduce crime and will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
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BBC News reported Northern Territory already jails children at a rate 11 times higher than any jurisdiction in Australia, noting almost all the youngsters placed behind bars are Aboriginal.
The Country Liberal Party was elected with a mandate to be tough on crime. In addition to lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to 10, the Northern Territory government will also tighten bail rules.
After the passage of the new age of criminal responsibility, about 100 people gathered outside the Northern Territory parliament to protest the change.