Children as young as 14 could now face life in prison for some violent offences after the Victorian parliament passed the Allan Government’s contentious Justice Legislation Amendment (Community Safety) Bill.
The legislation, which embeds the “Adult Time for Violent Crime” framework into law, cleared the upper house by 30 votes to eight after hours of heated debate on the final sitting day of the year. It will be fully in force by the end of February, with some provisions taking effect as soon as the bill receives royal assent.
Under the changes, children aged 14 and over who commit a range of serious violent offences will be sentenced in adult courts under adult sentencing principles. That means higher maximum penalties, a greater likelihood of jail and, for some offences, exposure to a potential life sentence.
The government says the laws are needed to respond to what it describes as a “youth crime crisis” involving home invasions, carjackings and group machete attacks that have traumatised victims and communities.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said the government had delivered on its promise to toughen penalties for serious violent offending.
“We said we’d sit until this Bill passes – I’m pleased these laws can now be put in place as soon as possible to protect Victorians,” she said.
“There are no easy solutions to youth crime, and the best approach is always to stop crime before it starts.
But we absolutely need serious consequences for violent youth crime to protect the community now.”
Which offences are covered
The “Adult Time for Violent Crime” regime applies to young people aged 14 and over who are convicted of:
- aggravated home invasion
- home invasion
- intentionally causing injury in circumstances of gross violence (including machete attacks)
- recklessly causing injury in circumstances of gross violence
- aggravated carjacking
- carjacking
- aggravated burglary (where serious or repeated)
- armed robbery (where serious or repeated).
For the first five offences, matters involving children aged 14–17 will be removed from the Children’s Court and heard and sentenced in the County Court. Carjacking will also default to the County Court unless a judge finds “substantial and compelling” reasons for it to remain in the youth jurisdiction.
The government will also lift the maximum penalty for aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking. For offenders aged 14 and over sentenced in the County Court, those offences will now carry a life maximum under the adult-time framework.
Legislative guidance will direct that aggravated burglary and armed robbery should be sent to the County Court where the offending is serious or repeated.
The reforms sit alongside a new stand-alone “knife use” offence, which can add up to three years’ jail on top of penalties for certain indictable crimes when a knife is used in the commission of the offence. The government says this is designed to target repeated machete-style attacks and other knife-related violence.
Carjacking laws have also been widened so that stealing a vehicle with a child under 10 inside will be treated as carjacking, whether or not force was used or the offender knew a child was in the car.
Courts will retain a narrow discretion for 14-year-olds. In “substantial and compelling” circumstances – for example, where the child has a significant cognitive disability – they may still be tried and sentenced in the Children’s Court and excluded from the adult-time regime.
More County Court judges are to be appointed to fast-track hearings for affected cases.
Critics warn of harm to children and possible rights breaches
The bill has been strongly opposed by youth justice advocates, legal groups and human rights organisations, who argue it pushes Victoria towards a more punitive model that will entrench young people in the criminal justice system rather than reduce crime.
In an open letter organised by the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and signed by dozens of community organisations, advocates warned the bill risked breaching the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and undermining Victoria’s own Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, which requires that detention of children be a measure of last resort.
Liberty Victoria described the approach as “regressive”, saying children’s brains and decision-making capacities are still developing and that exposing them to adult court processes and penalties is likely to increase reoffending rather than community safety.
Several MPs echoed those concerns in parliament, arguing the urgent passage of the bill had cut short scrutiny and ignored expert advice. They warned that the threat of life sentences for teenagers was out of step with international standards and could disproportionately affect vulnerable young people, including those in out-of-home care, from disadvantaged backgrounds or with disability.
Youth advocates also pointed to evidence that serious offending is often linked to trauma, family violence, homelessness and school disengagement, and called for greater investment in prevention, mental health and early intervention instead of harsher sentencing.
Government doubles down on “community safety first”
The government has stood by the reforms, pointing to a series of high-profile incidents involving armed youths, aggravated burglaries and violent car thefts. Ministers argue that while diversion and rehabilitation remain important, the community expects robust consequences when children and teenagers inflict serious harm.
They say the changes are tightly targeted at the most serious violent crimes, leaving the Children’s Court and existing youth justice responses in place for the majority of lower-level offending.
The reforms come alongside other government measures, including knife-search powers in designated areas, expanded early intervention programs, and planned investment in new youth justice facilities. The Attorney-General has framed the package as “both tough and smart” on crime, insisting it balances the needs of victims, communities and offenders.
What happens next
The Justice Legislation Amendment (Community Safety) Bill will begin to take effect once it receives royal assent, with full implementation due by the end of February.
From that point, 14–17-year-olds charged with the specified violent offences can expect to find themselves before the County Court rather than the Children’s Court, facing adult sentencing principles and, in the most serious cases, the possibility of life imprisonment.
For critics, the test will be whether the laws deliver on their promise to improve community safety or simply push more children into a justice system they say is already struggling to rehabilitate the young people it holds.
For the government, the legislation is a clear political statement one year out from the 2026 state election: that in the fight over youth crime, it is prepared to significantly harden Victoria’s justice response, even at the risk of legal and human rights challenges.
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