Victorian children who commit violent crimes will face adult jail time, including possible life sentences, under sweeping new reforms to be introduced by the Allan government.
A new bill dubbed “Adult Time for Violent Crime” will significantly increase the likelihood and the maximum length of a jail sentence for children aged 14 and older who commit certain crimes.
Under current laws, the maximum jail sentence that can be imposed in the Children’s Court for any offence is three years.
However, the County Court which hears adult cases can impose jail sentences of up to 25 years for violent crimes such as aggravated home invasions or aggravated carjackings.Â
The planned changes will see children who commit the following crimes subject to adult jail sentences:
Aggravated home invasionHome invasionIntentionally causing injury in circumstances of gross violence (includes machete crime)Recklessly causing injury in circumstances of gross violence (includes machete crime)Aggravated carjackingCarjackingAggravated burglary (serious and repeated)Armed robbery (serious and repeated)
Victoria Police has attributed the rise in home invasions to youth offenders. (ABC News)
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny told ABC Radio Melbourne that a life sentence could mean a child would never be released from jail.
“What we are seeing are some pretty violent crimes being committed by children and what we’ve got to make sure is … the courts have the power and authority to be able to treat these cases with the absolute seriousness they deserve,” she said.
“Communities deserve that and victims deserve that.”
Under the plan, some teenagers who commit aggravated home invasions face tougher penalties than the 25-year maximum term for rape and manslaughter sentences.
“Some of these aggravated home invasions with machete-wielding children are causing potentially lifelong damage to these victims,” Ms Kilkenny said.
Jacinta Allan and Sonya Kilkenny say serious crimes deserve serious consequences. (ABC News)
Jacinta Allan began a press conference by reading an email from a woman whose husband was stabbed three times and her son suffered a traumatic injury when they tried to stop offenders breaking into their neighbour’s garage.
“We’re all horrified by these violent, brazen youth crimes and the devastating impact they have on its victims,” Ms Allan said.
“Police tell us this is a new type of crime that constantly requires new interventions. There are no easy solutions here.
“There are too many victims and not enough consequences.”
The new policy and slogan echo the Queensland LNP’s “adult crime, adult time” platform, which saw it defeat a nine-year Labor government during last year’s election.
While announcing that the legislation would be introduced to parliament before the end of the year, the government revealed it had not finished drafting the laws.
Spike in youth crime triggers government crackdown
It comes as the state grapples with a spike in youth crime that has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic to decade-high levels.Â
Children currently account for 12.8 per cent of all offenders processed, according to Victoria Police.
However, they commit 60 per cent of robberies, almost half of all aggravated burglaries and a quarter of car thefts.
But under the current Children’s Court regime, nearly two-thirds of young offenders who commit serious crimes are diverted from jail sentences.
According to government statistics, 34 per cent of children and young people sentenced for aggravated home invasion or aggravated carjacking offences in the Children’s Court go to jail.
When sentenced for the same crimes in an adult court, 97 per cent go to jail.
Enver Erdogan says convicted child offenders who receive long sentences will be moved to the adult system when they are assessed as appropriate. (ABC News)
Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan said children who received the harsher sentences would begin their jail term in youth detention, then be moved to an adult prison when it was appropriate.
Under the proposed changes, Children’s Court judges will also be given clear instructions requiring them to prioritise community safety in sentencing decisions and remove the rule that jail should be a “last resort” for children.
Shadow Attorney-General James Newbury said the state government’s proposed sentencing changes did not go far enough.
“It’s a hollow policy because the government has announced that only five crimes will receive an uplift in terms of the new legislation,” Mr Newbury said.
“In Queensland, which I think the whole of Australia is looking at as model legislation, 33 crimes received an uplift and we know that as a result of that … we’ve seen a massive reduction of crime in Queensland.”
Greens MP Katherine Copsey said tougher youth sentences would not make the state safer and the left-leaning party would oppose the bill.
“Today, Jacinta Allen has shown that she is incapable of doing what works and is going to pursue a failed policy that ultimately will not make our community safer,” she said.
Allan government ‘competing on cruelty’, Aboriginal legal advocate says
The announcement was met with shock and disappointment from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.
“It’s clear that the Allan Labor government is competing on cruelty with other governments, and I would say it’s winning,” an emotional CEO Nerita Waight said.
“We are a state now that is unforgiving, unflinching and decides that if a child makes a serious mistake, they therefore forfeit their life.”
Ms Waight said she was particularly concerned the plan would disproportionately affect Indigenous children while failing to reduce crime rates.
She condemned the government for making the announcement at the same time as it was finalising a treaty with Indigenous Victorians.
“It’s a shame on the government, it’s a shame on the premier and it’s a shame on the cabinet for allowing their leader to push this agenda on our children,” she said.
“I’m losing faith in them.”
Nerita Waight says she’s losing faith in the Victorian government.
The Human Rights Law Centre described the proposal as shameful and reckless and said the government should be condemned.
It said sentencing children as adults undermined Victoria’s human rights obligations under international law and the state’s own Charter of Human Rights.
“Children deserve care, not cages and adult prison sentences,” the centre’s Monique Hurley said.
“The Allan government’s proposed laws will condemn children as young as 14 to irreversible harm and an incredibly bleak future behind bars.
“In an alarming race to the bottom, the Allan government is copying the [Queensland] Crisafulli government’s harmful youth justice laws in Queensland — laws so extreme that they required Queensland’s own human rights protections to be overridden.”
Expert warns against ‘cycle of offending’
As the government continues to rollout its suite of law and order reforms, experts warn increased punitive measures could instead worsen the youth crime problem.
Marietta Martinovic is an Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice studies at RMIT University. She said the government was not listening to the evidence around crime.
“I think the government is on a completely wrong trajectory led by vocal community groups who are simply uneducated, unfortunately,” Dr Martinovic said.
Marietta Martinovic says longer jail sentences will not fix Victoria’s youth crime issues. (ABC News: Tyrone Dalton)
She said increasing the number of young offenders in detention could expose them to negative influences that worsen their offending.
“There’s a lot of evidence available that says their brains are not formed, they’re much more susceptible to peer group pressure, they may not have positive role models,” Dr Martinovic said.Â
“To put people like that and surround them with other people who are also criminally inclined in confined spaces is really not the best way forward.”
She warned that young people who experienced longer jail terms risked getting caught in a “cycle of offending”.
“Recidivism rates just skyrocket. Amongst young people who’ve been in custody, there’s something like 80 per cent within two years that come back into custody,” she said.
Dr Martinovic urged the government to discard its punitive approach and instead focus on long-term solutions to youth crime.
“There are no short-term quick solutions to complex problems such as youth offending, no matter how much we want there to be,” she said.
“What actually works is early intervention, prevention, diversion, therapeutic and trauma-informed care, community-based solutions and most importantly in this context, culturally responsive approaches.”
Adult sentences would apply for home invasions, car jackings, robberies and serious assaults. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Mel Walker, a former chair of the Law Institute of Victoria’s criminal law section, said the government had ignored expert advice and evidence.
“It is extraordinary. It is really bad policy. It is counterintuitive,” Ms Walker said.
“To think that children are going to spend their formative years in an adult custodial sentence is just disappointing, it’s really concerning.”
Ms Walker says there needs to be more investment in fixing the societal issues that lead youths to commit crimes.
“Any purpose of a custodial sentence is simply the deprivation of liberty, and what we have in our adult custody prisons at the moment is a significant lack of resources and programs which could assist people in rehabilitation.
“We’re just simply warehousing, and if that’s how the government of the day thinks that that’s going to be the better protection of the community, it might be for some years while this child is in custody but, boy, there’s going to be a problem when they come out.”
The Police Association of Victoria has voiced its support for the plan.
“The government is moving in the right direction and recognising that consequences count,” secretary Wayne Gatt said.
He dismissed the concerns of advocacy groups.
“Compromising the intent and effectiveness of this suite of community safety measures to validate these minority views, would undermine any value they serve to the Victorian community.
“They would also be telling the overwhelming majority of Victorians, who are screaming for reform, that they’re wrong, too.”