Raise the Age
Media and commentary about our work to Raise the Age, because children belong in schools and communities, not prisons.
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Leading Organisations come together to #RaiseTheAge in NSW
A coalition has come together in NSW to call on the NSW Government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14. The group includes First Nations organisations, legal and human rights organisations, peak bodies in the non-government sector and unions. They bring a deep understanding of the impact of criminalising children along…
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Jailbaby urges justice reform
PIAC was thrilled to host a special performance of Jailbaby and conversation with award-winning playwright Suzie Miller at Griffin Theatre Company recently. Jailbaby tells the story of two young Australian men, Seth and AJ, treated unequally by the institutions they come up against because of their different backgrounds . The play details how class and…
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An evening with playwright Suzie Miller
Suzie Miller is a lawyer and playwright. Her play RBG: Of Many, One ran at the Sydney Theatre company between October and December 2023. Suzie’s other work includes the hugely successful Prima Facie, which will play on Broadway later this year, following success on London’s West End and in cinemas as part of the National…
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Paul Ramsay Foundation boosts the Raise the Age campaign
The NSW campaign to Raise the Age has received a significant boost, thanks to a generous commitment of campaigning and financial support from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Raise the Age is a national campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years of age. The NSW campaign involves a…
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UN urges Australia to improve treatment of people in detention
A report from the UN Committee Against Torture urges government action to improve Australia’s treatment of people in police custody, prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. The report follows a UN subcommittee visit to review places of detention in Australia, which was dramatically suspended in October when authorities in NSW and Queensland refused to…
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‘No child belongs in prison’: 128,000 signatures to raise the age in NSW and Victoria
More than 128,000 community members, lawyers, and advocates from NSW and Victoria have called for the age of legal responsibility to be raised to at least 14, and for an end to arresting, handcuffing, strip-searching and jailing children as young as 10. “The verdict from medical, legal and child development experts is clear: criminalising children…
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NSW petition to raise the age gets 63,000 signatures
Public Interest Advocacy Centre CEO Jonathon Hunyor said locking up children fails our community. “The verdict from medical, legal and child development experts is clear: criminalising children causes lifelong harm,” he said. In March, a NSW budget estimates hearing revealed 293 children aged between 11 and 13 had spent time in custody in 2021. More…
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2SER interview: Raise The Age
Right now, politicians are sending children as young as ten years old to be locked away in prison. PIAC is calling on MPs to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years old and instead invest in solutions that work. 2SER Breakfast spoke with PIAC Solicitor and Gomeroi women, Emma Bastable about the NSW Raise the…
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Opinion: Australia must raise the age of responsibility to 14 or keep trapping children in a quicksand of criminality
Op ed by PIAC Senior Solicitor Emma Bastable, and Luke McNamara from UNSW Centre for Crime, Law & Justice.
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A better path, a safer future. How do we raise the age of criminal responsibility?
A joint seminar with the UNSW Centre for Crime, Law and Justice (CCLJ) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). Right now, in every Australian state and territory, children as young as ten can be arrested, charged and sent to jail. This is despite decades of medical, social and legal research highlighting the harm this…