Overview

This resource sheet provides information on the minimum age of criminal responsibility across Australia’s states and territories and outlines planned changes to the minimum age in different Australian jurisdictions. It also answers some common questions about the minimum age of criminal responsibility, including why it exists, what the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says about the minimum age of criminal responsibility and how Australia compares to the rest of the world.

Introduction

In Australia, children who have committed or have been accused of committing an offence are managed by the youth justice system (e.g. police, courts, youth detention). Each state and territory in Australia is responsible for its own youth justice legislation and policies, including setting a minimum age of criminal responsibility. The Australian Government also has a minimum age of criminal responsibility that applies to federal crimes¹.

The minimum age of criminal responsibility is the age a child is considered by law to be capable of understanding their actions were wrong and can face criminal charges (Urbas, 2000). Between November 2000 and October 2022, the minimum age of criminal responsibility was 10 years in all Australian jurisdictions. However, since then, the minimum age has changed in some states and territories. 

Why is there a minimum age of criminal responsibility?

Setting a minimum age of criminal responsibility is one of the main legal protections for children and is intended to divert them away from the youth justice system (Urbas, 2000). In addition to the minimum age, the common law principle of doli incapax (Latin for ‘incapable of committing an evil act’) also applies in all Australian jurisdictions. This principle assumes that children from the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years (inclusive) are ‘criminally incapable’ unless the prosecution proves otherwise (Fitz-Gibbon & O’Brien, 2019)².

Research suggests that the earlier a child comes into contact with the youth justice system the more prolonged their contact with this system is likely to be (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2013). Adolescence (10–19 years) is a period of increased sensitivity to both positive and negative experiences (Sisk & Gee, 2022), meaning children and young people are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of this system. 

In addition, children who experience more serious youth justice contact, such as incarceration, tend to have poorer outcomes than those with less serious contact, such as a charge only (Kinner et al., 2024). For example, young people involved with the justice system face a markedly increased risk of premature death from largely preventable causes, such as suicide and transport accidents, compared to young people generally (Kinner et al., 2024). 

Studies have shown that children who are diverted away from the youth justice system, and are provided with appropriate health and social supports, are less likely to reoffend than those who come into contact with the system (Clancey et al., 2020). Therefore, protections such as the minimum age of criminal responsibility and doli incapax give children an opportunity to avoid this contact. 

What does the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child say about the minimum age of criminal responsibility? 

In 1989, the United Nations (UN) created the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention). The Convention includes 54 rights intended to protect the dignity, survival and development of children. To date, it has been ratified by 196 countries including Australia. (For more information on the Convention see UNICEF, 2025.) Ratification is a voluntary process that binds countries to the terms of the treaty under international law. One of the rights included in the Convention is the establishment of a minimum age of criminal responsibility (UN, 1989). 

Originally, the UN left it to State parties³. to decide their own minimum age of criminal responsibility. However, in 2019, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reported that some State parties had ‘unacceptably low’ minimum ages and recommended that all State parties raise the age to 14 years (UNCRC, 2019a, p. 6). This recommendation was based on increased knowledge about children’s development and brain functioning (UNCRC, 2019a). 

Various brain studies show that the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain responsible for risk assessment, decision making and impulse control – doesn’t fully develop until after adolescence (10–19 years) and into early adulthood (20–29 years). This means children and young people are unable to think about their actions and assess risk in the same way as adults (Ernst et al., 2015). According to the CRC, this meant children were ‘unlikely to understand the impact of their actions or to comprehend criminal proceedings’ (UNCRC, 2019a, p. 6). 

At the time of this recommendation, the minimum age of criminal responsibility across all Australian jurisdictions was 10 years, and among the lowest of all State parties who had ratified the Convention. As a result, the CRC specifically urged Australia to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to an ‘internationally accepted level’ (UNCRC, 2019b, p.14). 

Following the CRC recommendation, several national peak bodies called for the Australian Government to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, including the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Australian Medical Association and the Law Council of Australia. 

Since the 2019 recommendation, several Australian jurisdictions have increased the minimum age of criminal responsibility (Australian Capital Territory and Victoria⁴) or made commitments to do so (Tasmania). In other jurisdictions, the minimum age remains unchanged (federal, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia). In the Northern Territory, the minimum age of criminal responsibility was increased to 12 years in 2023, before being lowered to 10 years again in 2024. 

What is the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Australian jurisdictions?

Table 1 outlines the minimum age of criminal responsibility federally and for each state and territory at the time of writing. It shows the different ages of ‘no criminal responsibility’ (where a person cannot be charged with an offence) and the ‘presumption against criminal responsibility’ (where a person may be charged with an offence)⁵. It also shows what plans, if any, each jurisdiction has to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the future. 

Table 1: Minimum age of criminal responsibility in the federal, state and territory jurisdictions (at time of publication)

How does Australia compare to the rest of the world?

Despite the recent increases in some Australian jurisdictions, the minimum ages of criminal responsibility across Australia are still low compared to global norms (Cunneen, 2020). For example, the average minimum age of criminal responsibility in the European Union has been 14 years for more than a decade (Goldson, 2013). The minimum age of criminal responsibility varies greatly – from 7 to 18 years – across the world. However, over the past 3 decades, there has been an international trend to increase the age (Cunneen, 2020).

Since 1990, and the ratification of the Convention, 50 State parties have raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility (UNCRC, 2019a). According to the UN, the most common minimum age of criminal responsibility worldwide is 14 years (UNCRC, 2019a). Table 2 outlines the minimum age of criminal responsibility in various countries at the time of publication. This list highlights the range that exists internationally (Child Rights International Network [CRIN], 2025).

Table 2: Examples of minimum age of criminal responsibility: a global snapshot

Although there has been an international trend to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility, some countries have adopted a mixed approach to youth justice (Cunneen, 2020). For example, in Switzerland the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10 years – however, the youth court can only imprison those aged 15 years and above. Children between the ages of 10 and 14 face protective measures such as supervision, out-patient treatment or placement in an education or treatment facility (UNCRC, 2020).

Other countries have a minimum age of criminal responsibility with exceptions for certain serious crimes. For example, in Ireland the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 12 years – however, children aged 10 years and older can be charged with murder, manslaughter, rape and aggravated sexual assault (Cunneen, 2020; Department of Justice, 2021).

In Australia, the ACT has taken a similar approach to Ireland. This means that although the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 14 years, legislated exceptions mean children aged 12 and 13 years can be charged with several serious offences.

As a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Australia must submit regular reports to the CRC on how it is implementing the rights outlined in the Convention. Details of reporting to the CRC can be found on the UN Treaty Body Database.

¹For a full list of federal crimes see the Australian Federal Police website.

²Doli incapax was introduced as a common law principle in Australia in the 19th century and has since been legislated in several states and territories. Although the principle is used in various jurisdictions around the world, there is limited evidence the principle is routinely applied in practice in Australia’s youth courts. For further information on doli incapax in Australia see Fitz-Gibbon & O’Brien, 2019 and the Australian Human Rights Commission, 2019.

³State parties are countries that have ratified a treaty and are obliged to ensure their domestic legislation complies with the treaty. For major human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, this includes regular reporting to and scrutiny by UN human rights bodies.

⁴The Victorian legislation passed on 27 August 2024 and received Royal Assent on 10 September 2024. The change to the minimum age of criminal responsibility will commence on 30 September 2025.

⁵For a person to be charged the prosecution must prove the child understood their actions were wrong.