Samantha Ratnam asks the Government to commit to raising the age (again)
There is no credible arguments or reasons not to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria to 14.
We cannot simply give up on these children, 10- to 13-year-olds, and just accept that their lives are destined to follow a path of greater trauma, mental illness, ongoing contact with the adult prison system and premature death, not due to their own complex needs, but because of the way we as a society chose to respond.
Not when we now know there are much better options.
We must raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 in Victoria.
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This Second Reading was made on 9 February 2023.
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Transcript: TBC