A call to action from our friends at Street Smart:
Did you know that young folks between 19 and 24 face the highest rates of homelessness? It’s a tough reality for around 40,000 kids and young adults aged 15-24 who seek help from homeless services each year.
Youthlaw, Victoria’s youth legal centre, is launching the Centre for Innovative Justice, RMIT’s Final Evaluation of the Pre-court Support for Adolescents using violence in the home (AVITH) Pilot.
The Report highlights that early, specialist legal and non-legal support and pre-court negotiations, often results in timely and effective outcomes for young people, reduces harmful contact with the justice system and improved safety for their families.
Today a coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal, human rights and youth justice organizations will reiterate calls for the Victorian government to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 with the backing of 65,799 Victorian residents who have signed the petition to raise the age.
Youthlaw is part of a large coalition of organisations here in Victoria and nationally – all committed to and calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to at least 14 years of age.
Over the weekend you would have seen reports that Australia’s Attorneys-General have agreed to work on a proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 years old.
