Advocates are criticising the Victorian government's decision to backtrack on its plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility, ahead of a debate over the Youth Justice Bill this week. Premier Jacinta Allan says her focus is on diverting young people away from crime. Co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly, Rueben Berg, says the premier's move is disappointing.
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00:00I don't think anyone wants our young kids going out there and getting into trouble,
00:05but the solution shouldn't be to be locking up 13-year-old kids.
00:08There is this premise that we should be doing these things so that we can protect society,
00:13but if that results in 13-year-olds being in prison, I think we need to question what
00:16sort of society are we actually protecting.
00:18It's easy to blame the politicians.
00:20I blame the politicians for the backflip, but ultimately they are reflecting what they
00:23see society is saying.
00:25And the polls do show that the majority of people are happy to say that 13-year-olds
00:29should be locked up.
00:30We think of ourselves as a progressive society.
00:33We do all these amazing things to progress important rights, but on this matter there's
00:36something that's just not quite right in how we're seeing things.
00:39So I think we need to have a good, hard look at how things are portrayed in the media,
00:42how we're reflecting on this, and just have a hard think about whether 13-year-olds should
00:47be in prison.
00:48There is this sense that there's raging concern about young people committing crimes,
00:52and there may be instances, but I think it gets blown out of proportion.
00:56The statistics don't necessarily back up the sense of how this is being portrayed.
01:00Just think about that 13-year-old.
01:02Think about 13-year-olds you know in your family, and your friends.
01:06Should they be in prison?