Youth advocates say jail terms for 10-year-olds would be a 'disaster' for Northern Territory

The age of criminal responsibility will be reduced as part of a plan to rein in youth crime in the Northern Territory, but advocates say it will have the opposite effect.

Key Points

• The age of criminal responsibility is set to be lowered to 10 in the Northern Territory.
• Incoming Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said young people need to be "held accountable".
• Advocates have warned jail time for 10-year-olds could be disastrous and are calling for a different approach.

The incoming Northern Territory Country Liberal Party (CLP) government is being urged to consider the evidence before reintroducing jail terms for 10-year-olds.

Laws to raise the age from 10 to 12 were passed in the NT parliament in 2023, but with a landslide election win on a platform of curbing crime, the CLP has the people's mandate to change that.

"We think it's a disaster for the Northern Territory and for young Aboriginal kids in particular," North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) principal lawyer Jared Sharp told SBS News.

"We will see 10-year-olds in prison, and this is not the way for any civilised society to be going forward."

Sharp said when it comes to locking up children, governments need to rely on research rather than popular politics.

"Only 12 months ago, [the age] was increased from 10 to 12, we haven't seen any evaluations or reviews," he said.

"We would urge the incoming government, before they make such a drastic change, to have a parliamentary inquiry so that all of the unintended consequences could be properly considered before rushing to do something which could have really devastating consequences for the most young and vulnerable kids in our community."

CLP leader Lia Finocchiaro is set to swear in her new ministry this week and has set a date for the first meeting of the Legislative Assembly in October.

Finocchiaro has already met with the NT police commissioner and NT Police Association (NTPA) president to outline her plans.

"We support the legislation to make sure people are held responsible for committing criminal acts," NTPA president Nathan Finn said.

"We want to see consequences for actions and that’s all that the chief minister is talking about is making people [have] consequences for their actions and making sure we (are) dealing with it in appropriate ways."

But professor Fiona Stanley, founding director of the not-for-profit Telethon Kids Institute, said these policies could increase crime.

"If you want to create a monster, this is the way to do it," she said of jailing children. If you want to create a monster, this is the way to do it.

Professor Fiona Stanley

She said global research shows most young people in the justice system have a neurological disability, and locking them up is inhumane, ineffective and expensive.

"We have the best information in the world on developmental pathways for children and young people. We know these pathways," she said.

"If you intervene early, you can avoid a child ending up in the criminal justice system.

"If you actually had them assessed at the first contact with the police, you would get them diagnosed and would get the appropriate therapeutic programs so that they wouldn't end up in detention."