Backflip on age laws to quell alarm over youth crime

Victoria is abandoning its plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14. Video via AAP.

Transcript

00:00We are announcing changes to our laws. Changes that will firstly strengthen the bail test,

00:05making it clear to bail decision makers that if they think that someone poses an unacceptable risk

00:11of seriously re-offending while on bail, they shouldn't get bail in the first place,

00:16plain and simple. Secondly, we're providing clarity, clearer powers to Victoria Police to

00:23revoke bail, because bail is a privilege, not a given. Also too, thirdly, we are creating a new

00:33standalone offence for committing a serious crime while on bail, delivering a tougher response to

00:39those who deliberately flout our laws. These three actions are strengthening, will strengthen,

00:45the regime that is already in place around bail. I'm very pleased to say here today we support

00:52these amendments. We say that they're going to be a positive thing for community safety.

00:58What does that mean in reality for us? I would imagine and I would forecast that we would see

01:04more people being remanded, a harder approach on those high-end offenders, as the Attorney has said,

01:10those who are committing aggravated burglaries, those sneaking aggravated burglaries,

01:15those young people who are driving up the freeway at high speeds. They're the ones we're targeting.

01:20They're the ones that we see these laws will impact on and I would think that we will see

01:26more people being remanded for those offences until we can address the root

01:30causes of why they're committing those offences.