The Australian Northern Territory (NT) will soon allow children as young as 10 to be jailed again, after a reversal of the previous government’s decision to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12. According to the BBC, the new Country Liberal Party (CLP) government, which was elected in August, said a reversal is necessary to reduce youth crime rates. It argued that returning the age to 10 will ultimately protect children, even though doctors, human rights organisations and Indigenous groups have disputed this logic. 

According to the BBC, the Australian Northern Territory already jails children at a rate 11 times higher than any other jurisdiction in the country. Critics have said that this new law will not reduce crime, instead, it will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. 

However, NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said her government had been given a mandate after their landslide election victory, and that the change would allow courts to put young offenders through programmes designed to address the root causes of their crimes – which, according to statistics, are most commonly break-in and assault offences.

“We have this obligation to the child who has been let down in a number of ways, over a long period of time,” Ms Finocchiaro told the parliament on Thursday. “And we have [an obligation to] the people who just want to be safe, people who don’t want to live in fear anymore,” she added. 

Moreover, the NT has also tightened bail rules and introduced penalties for “posting and boasting” about crime on social media. “We make no apologies for delivering on our commitments to reduce crime for all Territorians,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

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Opposition Leader Selena Uibo, however, called it a “dark day” for the territory. “We know – because all of the evidence tells us this – that the earlier a child comes into contact with the criminal justice system, the more prolonged their involvement is likely to be,” she said.

“We want to see children held accountable for bad behaviour but then supported to get on a better path,” Ms Uibo added. 

Notably, the change will come into effect at a later date that is yet to be confirmed. Only the Australian Capital Territory has raised the age of criminal responsibility above 10. Victoria has passed legislation to do so, which will come into effect next year. The Tasmanian government has also said it will raise the age to 14 by 2029.