Advocates warn more children will be "churned through the system" as New South Wales moves to change laws governing the centuries-old principle of doli incapax.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Michael Daley responded to last month's review of doli incapax — the principle, meaning "incapable of wrong", that presumes children aged 10 to 14 cannot form criminal intent — by codifying it in legislation, a long-standing demand of Indigenous and legal groups.

However, he also introduced changes that the government says will make it easier for prosecutors to rebut the presumption in court.

"The presumption is a rebuttable one if the prosecution proves beyond reasonable doubt that the child understood that their actions were seriously and morally wrong," Mr Daley told Parliament.

"The bill will also make clear that a court may find that the presumption has been rebutted based on evidence of the conduct that constitutes the alleged offence and the circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence, and that can be the case without or despite other evidence of the child's intellectual and moral development."

In response, Justice and Equity Centre CEO Jonathon Hunyor said if the legislation passes, "it will mean more children are churned through the system — including being sentenced to jail time".

"We know this does not reduce crime or make communities safer. Instead, it sets kids on the path to future offending," he said.

Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Karly Warner said the legislation risks "weakening doli incapax by reducing the evidence that is needed for courts to convict young children".

"This is a dangerous and unjustified change which will place our most vulnerable children at risk of lifelong involvement in the criminal justice system," she said. "Making it easier to convict children goes against recommendations of the government's own independent expert review, which said doli incapax should be preserved in legislation without any changes."

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The changes follow a review led by former Supreme Court judge Geoffrey Bellew SC and former NSW Police deputy commissioner Jeffrey Loy, which recommended clarifying doli incapax in legislation. The review affirmed children aged 10 to 14 must be presumed incapable of committing a criminal offence unless proven otherwise.

While acknowledging that rebutting the presumption "imposes a high threshold" and is "generally consistent with criminal law principles," the reviewers stressed that it provides "an important safeguard against the possibility of inappropriate findings of criminal responsibility when a child lacks that knowledge, and recognises the considerable vulnerability of children aged 10-13 years and the significant impact upon such children of a criminal conviction".

A 2016 High Court ruling, RP v The Queen, confirmed prosecutors must prove a child understood their actions were seriously wrong at the time of the offence. Since then, convictions of 10- to 13-year-olds have declined sharply — a trend supported by experts who want the age of criminal responsibility raised to 14, but opposed by the NSW Nationals and Liberals, who sought the review.

The doli incapax review acknowledged public concern over youth crime but noted that only a small number of 10- to 13-year-olds engage in serious or persistent offending.

Ms Warner said it found "using criminal courts and punishment to control children is unproductive and fails to provide a meaningful, long-term solution for the child and the community".

"Locking up children not only compounds existing trauma for that child, it also increases the likelihood that they will reoffend - ultimately increasing future crime," she said.

"The majority of 10-year-olds that NSW Police decide to charge and drag to court are Aboriginal children. Any change intended to increase conviction rates for children represents another departure from the government's Closing the Gap commitments.

"We call on the Government to heed the advice of the expert review by strengthening - not weakening - doli incapax. This is what children, families and the community deserve."

Despite this, the government has recently passed tougher bail laws and created a new 'post and boast' offence. Experts, including the ALS, have condemned these measures.

BOCSAR data released in August showed the number of children in NSW detention has risen by more than 30 per cent, with almost 60 per cent of detainees being Indigenous.

Mr Hunyor said NSW already incarcerates children as young as ten, which is "too young". He argued the government "needs to get serious about real solutions".

"They need to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 and invest in programs and services in the community that address causes of offending," Mr Hunyor said.

Greens Justice spokesperson Sue Higginson welcomed the codification of doli incapax but said the government has "once again stopped short of the single reform that all experts, First Nations leaders and the United Nations have been demanding for decades".

"First Nations children are already massively overrepresented in the youth justice system and they will continue to be harmed by a Government that refuses to listen to Aboriginal peak bodies calling for an Aboriginal led response," she said.

"We cannot keep repeating the mistakes that experts and communities have been warning about for decades."