News

Statement from Peninsula Community Legal Centre on Victorian Government’s “adult crime, adult time” youth crime reforms

Peninsula Community Legal Centre joins our sector colleagues in strongly opposing the Victorian Government’s proposed “adult crime, adult time” sentencing reforms. The proposed reforms mean children as young as 14 years old potentially face life imprisonment for aggravated home invasions and aggravated carjacking.

We support the statements issued by the Federation of Community Legal Centres, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Victoria Legal Aid and the Law Institute of Victoria, which all categorically oppose these reforms.  

Quotes attributable to Jackie Galloway OAM, CEO of Peninsula Community Legal Centre:

We are incredibly disappointed with these proposed “adult crime, adult time” reforms, which will not make our community safer. The reforms fly in the face of evidence which shows that locking up children causes long-term harm for children, their families and communities.

To expose a 14-year-old child to life imprisonment is unthinkable. It’s also unthinkable to remove some children from the specialist Children’s Court into the wholly unsuitable adult jurisdiction of the County Court. Most children involved in the criminal justice system face multiple vulnerabilities, including experiences of trauma, family violence, homelessness, and other neglect. They need early intervention, diversion and social and health supports, not life-long punishment.

As a community, we have a responsibility to support children and young people, and to protect their best interests. We note the proposed reforms are likely to breach both the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities[1] and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child[2].

As a community legal centre, we work with victims of crime on daily basis and understand the trauma that victim-survivors experience. We also work with young people who are alleged to have committed crimes, and deeply understand their life circumstances and the need for a therapeutic justice response to youth offending. We’re not calling for a “soft on crime” approach. However, we are calling for evidence-based policy and laws. We need to do what works. To this end, PCLC calls for proper and sustained investment in therapeutic supports that address the underlying causes of youth offending. This is the path to community safety.

For more information, please contact Jackie Galloway, CEO, PCLC
m: 0418 517 124, e: jgalloway@pclc.org.au

[1] See section 23(3) of the Charter of Human Rights and

Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic), which provides “A child who has been convicted of an offence must be treated in a way that is appropriate for that child’s age”.

[2] See Article 3.1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides“In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration”.