Victoria's Labor government has abandoned plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, as pressure mounts on it to do more to tackle youth crime.
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00:00The headline of these changes is that the government has walked away from its commitment
00:05to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14.
00:09Instead it'll increase it from 10 to 12.
00:12It'll also establish a new task force that will aim at reducing the amount of youth offenders
00:19in the state.
00:20There's also a new focus on bail within these laws, making it tougher for youth offenders
00:24who commit serious crimes such as rape, murder, as well as aggravated assaults to receive
00:31bail.
00:32Now, the reason why this is significant is because almost a year ago now, the Premier
00:37at the time, Daniel Andrews, announced that the government would increase its age of criminal
00:42responsibility from 10 to 14, touting it as some of the most progressive bail reforms
00:47in the state.
00:48But today, Premier Jacinta Allen walked away from that saying that it's a new government,
00:52a new Premier, and that they'd be committing to 10 to 12 instead of that 10 to 14.
00:57She also said that there was the right emphasis on both victims as well as these youth offenders
01:02to be a more holistic approach.
01:04Let's have a listen to the Premier.
01:05We're delivering already a number of reforms that will make a real and important difference.
01:10More investment in education and employment programs, helping more young people to participate
01:16in treatment and rehabilitation programs.
01:19New changes too that mean victims can confront the youth offenders, giving victims a stronger
01:25voice and also youth offenders an understanding about the impact of their crime on victims
01:32of crime.
01:33These reforms deliver action at both ends of the spectrum, taking that whole of justice
01:38system response.
01:39Now, in terms of the reaction, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service hasn't missed describing
01:44these changes as treacherous, saying that the government had given in to the pressure
01:49by the tabloid media here in Victoria.
01:51The Greens have also described it as cowardly, saying they won't be supporting it in the
01:56parliament.
01:57Now, on the other side of politics, the Liberal opposition here say they don't believe in
02:01an increase in the age at all, saying it should be kept at 10 and they won't be voting for
02:06it either.
02:07Why is that important?
02:08Well, because the Victorian government need both the Greens and the opposition to pass
02:12this legislation.
02:13It's very unlikely that they'll be able to pass it on their own with a few members of
02:18the crossbench.
02:19Now, in addition to all of this, the government says it is confident and can pass the laws
02:23but we'll have to wait and see what amendments there'll be to see if they get it through
02:27the House this week.