It has been over a year since the chief law officers from Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and decided not to raise the age of criminal responsibility. In several States and Territories in Australia, children as young as 10 can be incarcerated for minor offences. This is despite the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommending that Australia raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14, since 2005. 

The NSW still has not taken any action to raise the age of criminal responsibility. This is despite a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry Report released earlier this year calling for children under 14 not to be imprisoned, a coalition of NGOs consistently calling for the age to be raised and Catholic leaders criticising the government for failing to take action. 

We want to keep reminding the Government of this injustice so the Raise the Age Campaign is asking you to take two actions today:

1. Send an urgent email to the Premier or Chief Minister of your state or territory and urge them to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 years old. We’ve got all the details you need, click here to send your email now.
2. Share a photo of yourself at 10 (or under 14) on social media with the hashtag #RaiseTheAge to help us spread the word about this campaign and encourage other people to get involved. You can see an example Facebook post here.