In Question Time on Tuesday 11 May 2021, I asked the Attorney-General whether the Qld Government will act to raise the age of criminal responsibility - the age at which someone can be charged, hauled before court and sentenced to prison - from 10 to at least 14 years old.
You can read the answer below or in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Mr BERKMAN: My question is to the Attorney-General. The government has repeatedly said that raising the age of criminal responsibility is a matter for the Meeting of Attorneys-General, which recently confirmed that this is no longer on their agenda and is instead an issue for the states and territories.
Given this, will the government finally commit to raising the age from 10 to at least 14 years old in line with the ACT, international jurisdictions and the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child?
Ms FENTIMAN: I thank the member for the question. In fact, the issue is still on the agenda of the Meeting of Attorneys-General and was discussed at our last meeting. There was a working group formed. They are still going through a final report. It is still on the agenda. As the Premier has said, at this stage Queensland has no plans to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. We will, of course, work with our colleagues in other jurisdictions. Once that working group has finalised a report, we will take a look at it.