Community leaders across New South Wales have launched a series of videos calling on the state government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and invest in community-led support services.
Timed to coincide with the NSW Parliament's first hearings for its Youth Justice Inquiry on Wednesday, the campaign — launched by Raise the Age NSW — features representatives from the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW (ALS), ANTAR, Change the Record, AbSec and other social and human rights groups, all posing the question: how can 10-year-olds be sent to prison?
Calls to raise the age are longstanding, with human rights, Indigenous and legal organisations advocating reform for decades. Medical professionals have also been near-unanimous in condemning the detention of children as young as 10, many of whom are held in prisons and watch houses, sometimes alongside adults.
Currently, only the ACT, where the minimum age is 14, and Victoria, where it is 12, have lifted the threshold above 10.
"The evidence is in," Raise the Age NSW campaign coordinator Emily Mayo says. "The younger a child is when failing systems force them into contact with police, handcuffs, courts and prison cells, the more likely it is they will have further contact across their lifetime. We can and should do better."
In its submission to the inquiry, Raise the Age NSW — a coalition of Aboriginal-controlled community organisations, peak bodies, non-government organisations, unions and community groups — argues the most meaningful way to reduce children's contact with the justice system, and make communities safer, is by raising the age from 10 to 14.
They note that for First Nations children, "decades of evidence confirm that not all children are targeted by criminal legal systems equally, and they do not experience these systems in the same ways".
"We already know which children are disproportionately surveilled, targeted and criminalised. We can and should do better for these kids."
NSW Police have long faced accusations of targeting First Nations communities — a claim the force explicitly denies. Last year, an expert report commissioned by the Justice and Equity Centre found NSW Police disproportionately targeted Aboriginal children and young people through "bail compliance checks".
Indigenous children in NSW are disproportionately harmed by the low age of criminal responsibility, ALS NSW acting chief executive Sharif Deen says. As such, he said raising the age is an "important step" in helping to close the gap.
Many children in the justice system have unmet and complex needs, including disabilities, exposure to family violence and poverty. Mr Deen argues they have been "failed by the very decision-makers and systems meant to protect and support them".
"Punishing these children only makes communities less safe," he says.
"All the evidence shows that locking children up makes them exponentially more likely to become trapped in an ongoing cycle of future offending and imprisonment."
According to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data, of the 225 young people and children in custody in December last year, 127 were Aboriginal. Overall, more than 75 per cent were on demand.
"Criminalising children causes lifelong harm to them, including compounding trauma, and increasing their risk of self-harm, suicidal ideation and death," Raise the Age NSW said in its parliamentary submission.
"Putting young children in prison, often unsentenced, and sometimes multiple times a year, does not rehabilitate or deter. It causes long-term harm and fails to address the underlying reasons for a child's contact with the criminal legal system."
In 2023, then-NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said holding police responsible for Closing the Gap targets would create "competing duties". The comment drew widespread condemnation from lawyers and advocates, who called it an "outrageous statement".
A 2023 report to Parliament by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission found that in many cases police interviews with young people in custody — including Indigenous youth — compromised their right to silence, while a 2025 report from the same watchdog recommended police only conduct home visits when a court order is in place.
Change the Record's Jade Lane argues carceral systems are, across the board, "structural racism" that helps entrench "systemic disadvantage and worsen cycles of harm and trauma for First Nations children".
She says Indigenous children need to be met with care rather than punishment.
"For generations, First Nations communities and young people themselves have been doing the work to keep children connected to family and culture, supporting them to thrive," Ms Lane said. "The NSW Government must sustainably invest in these community-led solutions, guided by First Nations self-determination and children's human rights."
Raise the Age NSW submitted that investing in early, holistic, place-based support outside the criminal justice system both reduces children's contact with the justice system and is financially beneficial.
"We currently invest hundreds of millions of dollars in our failed youth 'justice' system," they argue.
"Raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 is a catalyst for doing better for children, communities and the budget bottom line. It would allow us to reinvest this expenditure into communities and solutions that actually work."
