With children aged 10 to 13 responsible for only a very small proportion of crime, Victoria's Acting Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People says there is "no reason why we should not see age-appropriate responses" that reflect their vulnerability.
Having walked back its commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 — against expert advice — the Victorian Government now faces further scrutiny after new data from the Sentencing Advisory Council revealed children aged 10 to 13 account for just one in 300 criminal cases in the state.
The report, released last week, also highlighted stark racial disparities. While only 2.2 per cent of 10- to 13-year-olds in Victoria are Aboriginal, they represented more than 30 per cent of those sentenced for offences committed at ages 10 and 11, and remained significantly over-represented at ages 12 and 13.
Meena Singh, the state's Acting Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People, said punitive responses fail to reflect the developmental needs and vulnerabilities of this small group.
"For such a small group of children, and for such low-level offending, there is no reason why we should not see age-appropriate responses that reflect the unique vulnerability of this group," she said.
"We need responses tailored to their specific needs, and, in Victoria, we're just not doing that nearly as much as we should be."
Rather than pushing young people deeper into the criminal justice system, Ms Singh argued that support structures — not punishment — should be the focus.
"Engagement with education, connection with supports for mental health, drug and alcohol and other needs, as well as a safe, supported home and community life, are essential for keeping children away from the criminal legal system."
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The Sentencing Advisory Council also found many children in contact with the system had complex, often undiagnosed conditions such as psychiatric disorders, intellectual disabilities and acquired brain injuries.
Despite long-standing calls to raise the age to 14 — supported by child development experts, legal advocates, and the Yoorrook Justice Commission — the Victorian Government last year raised the minimum age only to 12, abandoning a promise to raise it further in 2027. The move drew widespread condemnation.
On Tuesday, the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to raise the age to 14, with exceptions for 12- and 13-year-olds involved in serious offending.
Following the government's reversal, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service said it felt "betrayed by their [the government's] treacherous decision to abandon our children".
Ms Singh also pointed to the state's tightening of bail laws — which has driven a rise in youth incarceration — as placing Victoria at a "disturbing crossroads in its approach to youth justice".
She said the new research supports the decision to raise the age to 12 but underlines the need to go further, ensuring that responses to 12- and 13-year-olds are developmentally appropriate and supportive.
"As we've said before, raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Victoria to 14 years would facilitate a vital systemic shift from criminalisation to community-based social service responses for children under the age of 14," Ms Singh said.
"The positive impacts of such a shift for Aboriginal children and their families, Aboriginal communities and society as a whole would be profound and enduring."
