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{"href":"","timestampHref":"","text":"Just Reinvest NSW is concerned that the NSW Government’s Children and Young Offenders Legislation Amendment Bill introduced to parliament this week will weaken the doli incapax principle that protects children aged between 10-14 years from being criminalized, particularly Aboriginal children who already make up more than 60% of the youth incarcerated population in New South Wales. By inserting into the legislation guidance to determine that the presumption of doli incapax (children aged between 10 and 14 are incapable of deceit) can be rebutted by evidence that they acted in a way that constituted the alleged offence and the circumstances surrounding it; completely reverses the whole point of doli incapax that children aged 10 to 13 years are not developmentally formed enough to understand that what they did was seriously wrong. “The changes to the law and the watering-down of the implementation of the doli incapax principle will not make communities safer necessarily, however it will make the justice system more dangerous for Aboriginal children aged 10, 11, 12 and 13 years, \"said Geoff Scott, CEO Just Reinvest NSW. “The NSW Government should be looking at ways to address the drivers of offending such as poverty, homelessness, trauma, and violence – the most common circumstances of the children who encounter the justice system. If we can address these root causes, we’ll be doing far more to prevent and divert children away from the criminal justice system in the first place and create safer communities.” More worrying is that the guidance says that this determination can be made without or despite other evidence of the child’s intellectual or moral development that is provided. Today Dominic Toomey SC, President of the NSW Bar Association has said the Bill does not codify the common law with respect to doli incapax. \"In the absence of the age of criminal responsibility being raised to 14 years, the important presumption of doli incapax should be retained and not undermined.\" Just Reinvest NSW insists the amendments to redact proposed s 5 (7) of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 from the bill.","articleText":"Just Reinvest NSW is concerned that the NSW Government’s Children and Young Offenders Legislation Amendment Bill introduced to parliament this week will weaken the doli incapax principle that protects children aged between 10-14 years from being criminalized, particularly Aboriginal children who already make up more than 60% of the youth incarcerated population in New South Wales. By inserting into the legislation guidance to determine that the presumption of doli incapax (children aged between 10 and 14 are incapable of deceit) can be rebutted by evidence that they acted in a way that constituted the alleged offence and the circumstances surrounding it; completely reverses the whole point of doli incapax that children aged 10 to 13 years are not developmentally formed enough to understand that what they did was seriously wrong. “The changes to the law and the watering-down of the implementation of the doli incapax principle will not make communities safer necessarily, however it will make the justice system more dangerous for Aboriginal children aged 10, 11, 12 and 13 years, \"said Geoff Scott, CEO Just Reinvest NSW. “The NSW Government should be looking at ways to address the drivers of offending such as poverty, homelessness, trauma, and violence – the most common circumstances of the children who encounter the justice system. If we can address these root causes, we’ll be doing far more to prevent and divert children away from the criminal justice system in the first place and create safer communities.” More worrying is that the guidance says that this determination can be made without or despite other evidence of the child’s intellectual or moral development that is provided. Today Dominic Toomey SC, President of the NSW Bar Association has said the Bill does not codify the common law with respect to doli incapax. \"In the absence of the age of criminal responsibility being raised to 14 years, the important presumption of doli incapax should be retained and not undermined.\" Just Reinvest NSW insists the amendments to redact proposed s 5 (7) of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 from the bill.","timeText":"","dateTime":"","ariaLabel":"","anchorAria":"","anchorText":"","anchorHref":"","hoverHref":"https://www.facebook.com/?__cft__[0]=AZZh9h69XC55bvoRME37-qfiaYeCzel9d1uFvEAGIcYpDK75_hRdRzO7VtRw9HaIa8VfsqKAhgW-kz38DnXotGkM0fnv9h7b5NqezOABv0tO8BJXtI-qfVDo1gj7pivuWe2eezCrLoGHR8I8KoAFjj5MXsF8zetOSvvZIKtHMKcdmwPj1yGkQo_Z9UbEbnxg8uWluA-BQC_eLDKCknToB7ZW&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-y-R#?gfk","links":[],"mediaLinks":[],"source":"message-root","hoverTooltip":"Friday 21 November 2025 at 15:32"}