Australia’s Northern Territory resumes detaining 10-year-olds

In Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), children aged 10 and over will soon be able to be imprisoned again after the local government lowered the age of criminal responsibility.

Australian states and territories have been under pressure to increase the limit from 10 to 14, in line with other developed countries and UN recommendations.

Last year the NT became the first jurisdiction to raise the threshold to 12, but the new Country Liberal Party (CLP) government elected in August has said a reversal is needed to reduce youth crime rates.

It has been argued that raising the age to 10 will ultimately protect children – although doctors, human rights organizations and indigenous groups dispute this logic.

They cite evidence that the laws will not reduce crime and will disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The NT already incarcerates children at a rate 11 times higher than any other jurisdiction in the country, and Almost all of them are Aboriginal.

Many places across Australia have declared they are facing a youth crime crisis, and a series of violent incidents this year have led to a series of youth curfews in the NT city of Alice Springs.

Prime Minister Lia Finocchiaro said her government had been given a mandate following its landslide election victory and that the change would allow courts to send young offenders through programs aimed at tackling the root causes of their crimes – the most common, according to statistics, being burglary. and assault crimes.

“We have this obligation to the child who has been failed in various ways over a long period of time,” she told Parliament on Thursday.

“And we have that [an obligation to] the people who just want to be safe, people who don’t want to live in fear anymore.”

The NT Government has also tightened bail rules and introduced penalties for “posting and bragging” about crimes on social media.

“We make no apologies for failing to meet our commitments to reduce crime for all Territorial residents,” Finocchiaro added.

However, research both globally and in Australia has shown that incarcerating children increases their likelihood of re-offending and often has serious impacts on their health, education and employment.

Earlier this year, a report by the Australian Human Rights Commission – an independent federal agency – found that policies across the country were “driven by populist, ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric” and that governments were instead spending money spent on incarcerating children. should reinvest in support services.

Opposition leader Selena Uibo – the first and only Aboriginal woman to lead a major party in Australia – said it was a “dark day” for the territory.

“We know – because all the evidence tells us this – the earlier a child comes into contact with the criminal justice system, the longer their involvement is likely to last,” she said.

“We want children to be held accountable for bad behavior, but then supported to take a better path.”

The change will come into effect at a later date to be confirmed.

As the NT Parliament debated the bill this week, around 100 people gathered outside to protest, some carrying placards. One read: “Ten-year-olds still have baby teeth.” Another said: “What if it was your child?”

Independent MP Yingiya Guyula, a Yolŋu man from northeast Arnhem Land, told the BBC it was a “racist” bill.

“It is [targeted] among indigenous peoples.”

“It’s just colonization – someone else making decisions for us in the community when they should be listening to our people.”

NT Children’s Commissioner Shahleena Musk, a Larrakia woman from Darwin, told the BBC that Aboriginal children were less likely to be cautioned, more likely to be charged and prosecuted in court and more likely to be remanded in custody than non-Aboriginal offenders.

“I accept that people in our communities are fearful and that crime has played a large role in the media and social media,” she said.

“[But] We should not stand by and allow these children to end up in a juvenile justice system that is harmful, ineffective, and only exacerbates the problems we are trying to change.”

CLP politician and former youth worker Clinton Howe defended the bill, telling Parliament that the prospect of prison was the only punishment young offenders cared about.

“I think government is a blunt instrument and I don’t like it as a tool of social intervention, but for some of these kids it’s the only thing left.

“We need to intervene early for the child’s benefit… in the environment in which he lives, no one cares.”

Critics of the bill fear the laws could slow momentum to raise the age of criminal responsibility in other states and territories.

Only the Australian Capital Territory has raised the age of criminal responsibility above 10, but Victoria has passed legislation that will come into force next year. The Tasmanian government has announced it will raise the age to 14 by 2029.