Latest News & Updates

MEDIA RELEASE: Delayed public school funding puts marginalised children at greater risk, Youthlaw tells Parliamentary Inquiry

March 12, 2026

Youthlaw has today given evidence to the Victorian Government’s Inquiry into Public School Funding, warning that the decision to delay raising public school funding to 75% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) until 2031 will have serious consequences for children and young people experiencing disadvantage.

The decision effectively removes $2.4 billion from funding previously committed to Victorian public schools and risks accelerating school disengagement, exclusion and contact with the criminal legal system.

Youthlaw’s submission calls on the Victorian Government to raise public school funding to 75% of Gonski’s Schooling Resource Standard by 2028. All other state and territory governments have made this commitment.

Through our work providing holistic legal and social work support to young people in and leaving out-of-home care, children facing intervention orders, children at risk of school exclusion, and young people experiencing homelessness, family violence and poverty, Youthlaw sees firsthand how underfunding public schools acts as a critical catalyst for children being pushed out of education and into the criminal justice system.

“Underfunding public schools pipelines at-risk children away from algebra classes and school musicals and towards police vans and prison cells,” said Lee Carnie (they/them), Youthlaw’s CEO.

The link between school disengagement and incarceration is well e‑stablished. In 2019, 68% of children in youth prisons had previously been suspended or expelled from school.[i] Youthlaw told the inquiry that inadequate public school funding increases the likelihood of children disengaging from education, becoming criminalised and missing out on critical early intervention supports.

Youthlaw also raised concerns about the increasing use of the justice system to manage school‑based behavioural issues. In its family violence practice, Youthlaw regularly hears about schools advising parents to seek intervention orders to address issues such as bullying, including involving children as young as 12. In many cases, children do not understand the conditions of intervention orders or the serious criminal consequences of breaching them.

“Public schools need the resources to support children address behaviours of concern and stay in concern, without resorting to the criminal justice system,” Lee Carnie said. “Delaying additional school funding will further erode schools’ ability to do this.”

Youthlaw told the inquiry that properly funded public schools are essential early intervention settings – enabling schools to retain experienced teachers, support students with complex needs, and partner with community‑based programs, including school lawyer programs delivered with local community legal centres.

“Adequately funding public schools is not just an education or workplace issue. It is a decision that affects whether children can recover safely from violence, learn from their mistakes, and have an equal opportunity to grow and thrive – regardless of their postcode, the school they attend, or how much money their parents make.”

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About Youthlaw

Youthlaw is Victoria’s statewide specialist community legal centre for children and young people under 25. Youthlaw co-convenes Smart Justice for Young People and advocates for evidence‑based policies that keep children connected to school and out of the criminal legal system.

Media contact: Casey Dean (she/her), Youthlaw Media & Communications Lead on 0494 614 506 or [email protected]

[i] Working Together Action Plan, October 2023, Smart Justice for Young People

MEDIA RELEASE: New family violence laws in Victoria means stronger protections, but there is more to be done to protect victim-survivors

February 20, 2026

The Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill, also known as the Women’s Safety Package, recently passed in Victoria. The Bill reflects the voices of victim-survivors and the expertise of the community legal sector, including Youthlaw.

Positive family violence reforms for young Victorians

Youthlaw welcomes many aspects of the Bill which reflects the Victorian Government’s commitment to improving safety for women and children experiencing family violence. In particular, we welcome the following changes:

Preventing young people from ageing out of protection when they turn 18 and supporting continuity of safety. Youthlaw Board member and lived-experience advocate, Conor Pall, has long called for young people not to age out of protection when they turn 18. This reform is a testament to Conor’s advocacy, alongside other lived experience advocates.

Increasing the minimum age of Family Violence Intervention Order respondents from 10 to 12 years of age.

Clarifying that before making a Family Violence Intervention Order against a child, the Children’s Court may consider the child’s ability to understand and comply with it.

Minimum age for intervention orders should be at least 14 years

Youthlaw will continue to advocate for the minimum age an intervention order can be made against a child to be increased to 14 years old. Our frontline practice experience shows us that:

Current laws risk criminalising 12 and 13 year old children, most of whom are victim-survivors of family violence themselves.

Adult legal frameworks are ineffective for children. Therapeutic early intervention and wraparound social supports are more likely to achieve lasting change than blunt legal responses such as intervention orders.

Police-initiated intervention order applications can prevent families seeking help. We’ve heard from parents who fear calling emergency services for help, worried that police attendance will result in intervention orders and criminalisation.

Quotes from Conor Pall

Conor Pall (he/him), Youthlaw Board member and family violence lived experience advocate, said:

“Family violence doesn’t just disappear when we turn 18. But for too many years, the law treated it as if it did.”

“We often talk about turning 18 like it’s all about what you gain: voting, signing your own lease, your own Medicare card, making big decisions without your parents. But for some young people in Victoria, turning 18 was about what you lost. You lost the Family Violence Intervention Order that was keeping you safe.”

“This change is for the young people who turned 18 and watched their protection disappear, and for those who never got the chance to have their story heard. The safety and wellbeing of children must be central to every reform, every day.”

About Youthlaw

Youthlaw is Victoria’s statewide specialist community legal centre for children and young people under 25.

Media contact: Casey Dean (she/her), Youthlaw Media & Communications Lead on 0494 614 506 or [email protected]

MEDIA RELEASE: Legal experts oppose Victoria’s rushed “adult time” for children laws

December 2, 2025

The Victorian Government’s ‘adult time for violent crime’ youth justice sentencing reforms tabled today ignore warnings from legal experts and clear evidence that show harsher penalties for children do not reduce rates of reoffending or improve community safety.

Youthlaw has obtained independent legal advice from Senior Counsel Michael Stanton and Cameron Moir from the Victorian Bar about the legality and potential human right implications of the Justice Legislation Amendment (Community Safety) Bill 2025 (Vic).

Senior Counsel Michael Stanton states: “The Bill represents a significant departure from long standing principles underpinning the Victorian criminal justice system in relation to children.”

The independent legal advice states:

“It is strongly arguable that the proposed amendments in the Bill are contrary to the Charter and Australia’s obligations under international law because:

They fail to protect the best interests of the child as a primary consideration;
They subject children to the potential for disproportionate punishment, which may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
They fail to adhere to the foundational principle that the detention or imprisonment of a child shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time; and
They reflect a failure to take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (many of whom will themselves commit offences), and fail to provide an environment that fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child”

Moreover, the proposed amendments in the Bill “reflect a failure to take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and fail to provide an environment that fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.”

The Bill was introduced shortly after midday and debate will be rushed through without thorough human rights scrutiny, before being put to a vote in the Legislative Assembly at 5pm today.

Removing significant human rights principles for imprisonment to be a last resort for children and for rehabilitation to be a central focus in sentencing children risks future legal challenges for incompatibility with existing human rights protections.

Michael Stanton SC states: “The above matters may result in the Supreme Court issuing a declaration of inconsistent interpretation pursuant to s 36(2) of the Charter because the amendments are incompatible with the human rights of children”.

“Further, the proposed amendments may breach s 10 of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) because of their disproportionate impact on minorities, including First Nations peoples. This may result in the proposed amendments being inoperative to the extent of the inconsistency between State and Federal laws.

Victoria’s specialist youth legal service Youthlaw strongly opposes the youth justice sentencing reforms.

Lee Carnie, CEO of Youthlaw stated: “Rushing through laws that will see children as young as 14 sentenced as adults and facing life imprisonment will have a devastating effect on children who have too often experienced violence, abuse and homelessness themselves.”

“Children do not belong in prison cells. Moving children into the adult courts will only fast-track their path into adult prisons. The Victorian Government should be investing in youth-specific crime prevention and early intervention programs, not dismantling systems that work.”

Youthlaw is Victoria’s statewide specialist community legal centre for children and young people under 25. You can see our previous media release in anticipation of the release of these new laws here.

Media contact: Lee Carnie (they/them), CEO – 0402 088 060

See the obtained legal advice in full here.

Open Letter to the Premier

From Smart Justice for Young People and community organisations across Victoria and Australia

November 25, 2025

Dear Premier,

We, the undersigned community organisations, write to express our deep concern and strong opposition to the Victorian Government’s proposed youth justice changes, which would allow children as young as 14 to be sentenced in adult courts and face life imprisonment.

These proposals represent a serious step backwards for Victoria. They ignore strong evidence about child development, rehabilitation and human rights, and will cause lifelong harm while making our communities less safe.

Punishment is not prevention

The evidence is clear: harsher penalties and adult sentencing do not deter youth offending or improve community safety. Instead, they increase trauma, reoffending and long-term disadvantage. Children, especially those who have experienced abuse, neglect, disability, family violence, homelessness or exploitation, need support and rehabilitation, not prisons.

The Sentencing Advisory Council has confirmed that children are developmentally different from adults: they are more impulsive, less able to assess consequences, and far more capable of change. Treating children as adults contradicts this evidence.

Children deserve care, not prison cells

These proposals breach Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities and our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which require that imprisonment be a last resort and that children be treated according to their developmental capacity. These reforms prioritise punishment over evidence and human rights, echoing recent Queensland changes acknowledged as unnecessarily harsh and inconsistent with international standards.

They will disproportionately harm Aboriginal children, children in out of home care and children from cultural backgrounds already overrepresented in the criminal legal system due to systemic failures in housing, education, health and child protection.

Community safety comes from support not incarceration

Real community safety comes from addressing the causes of youth offending: poverty, trauma, racism, social isolation and lack of support.

Community-led, culturally safe and trauma-informed programs keep children connected to school, family and culture and reduce reoffending. These services work, yet they remain critically under-funded while prison and police budgets grow.

Victoria must invest in early intervention, diversion and prevention – not measures that entrench cycles of harm.

A call for leadership

We urge you to halt these proposed laws and engage in genuine consultation with Aboriginal leaders, community organisations, legal experts and young people.

Victoria should be known for fairness and compassion, not sentencing children to life in prison.

Signed (25 November 2025),

Open Letter