In Victoria, primary school aged children as young as 10 can be arrested and locked behind bars.
Children who are still losing baby teeth 🦷, who are too young to get an Instagram account, and who are learning to kick their first footy 🏉 don’t belong in prison.
These laws that criminalise kids impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children more than any other children in the country.
Most children aged 10-13 who are in prison nationwide – almost 80% – are First Nations children. The system is broken.
Children should be in classrooms and playgrounds, not courtrooms and prison cells.
✅ The Victorian Greens have already introduced a Bill to the Victorian Parliament that would raise the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria from 10 to 14. It would also ban locking children up in solitary confinement in Victoria.
The Vic Labor Government must act on this as a matter of urgency.
The Greens will push for this reform every step of the way.
We need to treat children as children, not as criminals.
✍️ Want to show your support for raising the age? Sign our open letter to the Victorian Government: greens.org.au/vic/raisetheage