Victoria’s proposed “Adult Time for Violent Crime” legislation flies in the face of evidence that rehabilitation is far better suited for youthful offenders than prison, two professional legal bodies have pointed out.
In a statement on Wednesday, 12 November, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan boasted about a bill that would deliver “serious consequences” to children who have been found guilty of violent offences, including aggravated home invasions, carjacking, and repeated armed robbery.
The legislation, to be introduced to Parliament this year, would increase the likelihood of jail sentences, increase the maximum length of those sentences, change a judge’s decision-making principles, and remove the rule that jail for children is a “last resort”.
Allan said there were “too many victims [and] not enough consequences”, and the solution was to have courts treat children like adults, “so jail is more likely and sentences are longer”.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny added that adult courts “put more emphasis on victims, violence and community safety”.
“There are no easy solutions to youth crime, and the best approach is always to stop crime before it starts. But we absolutely need serious consequences for violent youth crime to protect the community now,” Kilkenny said.
In response, the Victorian Bar and Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said the government’s approach would only make it “far more likely” that young people are kept in custodial environments for much longer, leaving them more vulnerable to “malign influence and physical risk”.
“While there is no doubt a desire for simple and immediate solutions, the answer is not to simply lock up children who have committed particular offences; and certainly not to treat them in the same way that the criminal justice system applies sentencing law to adults.
“The unfortunate reality is that addressing youth crime requires significant effort over the medium to long term,” the bar associations said in a shared statement to media.
Based on the evidence, children who are held in prison are exposed to negative role models, which could result in them “transforming into hardened criminals upon release” who are far less open to change.
The Victorian Bar and CBA said, based on their own experience, children have rarely thought about the likely consequences if they are caught, and to assume this legislation would encourage them to do so “is just not consistent with any evidence or research about how children’s brains function”.
Victorian Bar and CBA said it was why general deterrence has not formed part of the sentencing of children.
With serious and sustained rehabilitation efforts by experienced professionals, children can be prevented from reoffending.
“If what the community wants to achieve is to prevent children from reoffending in the medium to long term, the approach that is shown to promote the best chance of success is to put in the hard work of rehabilitating them, rather than locking them up in prison with an anti-social and negatively influential cohort,” they said.
Both the Victorian Bar and CBA said they were disappointed to have not been consulted prior to the Premier’s announcement.
They also clarified that there are existing powers under the Youth Justice Act 2024 for the Children’s Court to uplift indictable crimes to the County or Supreme Court for sentencing under adult laws.
The Australian Lawyers Alliance said it was also “very alarmed” about the legislation and concerned the state would be breaching its duty of care to children in custody through increasing harm.
Criminal justice spokesperson Greg Barns SC said it was “very disappointing” that the government has not learnt from the evidence of the damage it has done to children in institutions “over many decades”.
“The proposed new laws will not work to rehabilitate or deter children from future criminal behaviour. If anything, they will cause further trauma and entrench young people into cycles of offending.
“This is a terrible outcome for the young people in Victoria and for the broader community in the long term. We urge the government to be bold and invest in alternate justice solutions,” Barns said.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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