Report calls on WA to raise age of criminal responsibility to 14 years

Dr Hannah McGlade, Executive Officer National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal Services discusses a renewed call on WA to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years.

Dr Hannah McGlade says urgent systemic reform is needed after five First Nations deaths in custody in a month. Source: Sarah Collard

More than 70 organisations have endorsed a new report calling on Western Australia to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years.

The latest report has revealed nearly three-quarters of average daily juvenile detainees in Western Australia in 2020 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, despite them comprising just five per cent of the state’s population.

Legal experts argue mass incarceration is ineffective and are urging the government to consider more successful alternatives like Justice Reinvestment.