<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>326392</docID> <postdate>2024-08-13 09:29:11</postdate> <headline>Victoria flips on age of criminal responsibility move</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-326396" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240430144809630791-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Youth crime remains a controversial issue in Victoria with the government finally moving on reforms. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Callum Godde</strong> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>Victoria is abandoning its plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.</strong></p> <p>Premier Jacinta Allan has announced the backflip on the long-advocated reform ahead of parliament resuming on Tuesday.</p> <p>The state government is pushing ahead with legislation to raise the current age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.</p> <p>It had originally planned under former premier Daniel Andrews to eventually raise the age to 14 by 2027.</p> <p>But following a series of prominent incidents involving alleged youth offenders including two fatal car crashes, the government has decided to dump that move.</p> <p>"Twelve is where it will stay," Ms Allan told reporters.</p> <p>"This decision has been made at a different time by a different government with a different premier."</p> <p>Children as young as 10 can be charged, convicted and imprisoned across Australia, except in the Northern Territory, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in August 2023.</p> <p>The ACT passed legislation to raise the age to 14 by 2025 with some exceptions, while Tasmania has pledged to raise the minimum age of criminal detention to 14.</p> <p>Victoria is also re-introducing charges of committing an offence while on bail for adults and children - laws that were only repealed in March.</p> <p>It will also make bail harder to get.</p> <p>"Bail is a privilege, not a given," Ms Allan said.</p> <p>Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes argued the new bail offence was a different as it was for committing serious crimes rather than indictable offences.</p> </body>