The National Justice Project opposes the Justice Legislation Amendment (Community Safety) Bill 2025 which could see children as young as 14-years-old locked up for life.
Under the Victorian government’s proposed “Youth Justice Sentencing Reforms”, children aged 14 to 17 will be treated as adults in the criminal justice system.
This means young people convicted of offences such as aggravated burglary or aggravated carjacking could face life sentences – penalties currently given to adults convicted of murder.
The Bill would also allow some children to be tried in the County Court instead of the Children’s Court, removing judicial specialists trained in child development.
We know that locking children up harms young people who are already being failed by State systems, including children in out-of-home care, living with disability, experiencing homelessness, trauma and family violence.
These proposed reforms also directly conflict with Victoria’s human rights protections under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities (Charter) and Australia’s binding human rights obligations under international law, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Emma Hearne, Principal Solicitor at the National Justice Project said:
“Treating children as adults in the criminal justice system is a failure of care.
“These reforms will cause more harm to young people who have already been harmed by Australia’s systems. We should be investing in rehabilitation and giving children the chance to rebuild their lives, not expanding pathways to incarceration.
“Instead of harsher sentencing, we should be fixing the systems that failed them in the first place.”
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Federation of Community Legal Centres, Human Rights Law Centre and Youthlaw have written a Statement of Advice to the Victorian government, expressing their opposition to the Bill and key amendments needed to protect children and young people.
The National Justice Project has endorsed this Smart Justice 4 Young People’s Open letter to the Premier.
