NT Lowers Age of Criminal Responsibility Back to 10
What was at stake
NT CLP government reversed raise to 12, lowering back to 10. Contradicts Don Dale Royal Commission. Condemned by UN, medical bodies.
What happened
The Northern Territory government, under the Country Liberal Party, passed legislation in 2024 lowering the age of criminal responsibility back to 10 years old, reversing a prior reform that had raised it to 12. This change means children as young as 10 in the NT — a population disproportionately comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children — can again be arrested, charged, and detained in the criminal justice system. The move was condemned by the United Nations, medical associations, and human rights bodies, and was seen as directly contradicting the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory (the Don Dale Royal Commission).
What the court decided
Described as regressive and harmful. UN minimum recommendation is 14.
Statutes and cases cited
- § Youth Justice Act 2005 (NT) (as amended 2024)
- § Criminal Code Act 1983 (NT)
Categories
This is a research and reference resource, not legal advice. Summaries are prepared from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always read the original judgment or document and consult a qualified lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction before acting.
Narrative summaries on this page are licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Reuse them with attribution to JusticeHub for non-commercial purposes. Original judgments and source documents remain under their own terms; follow the authoritative link for the source of record.