THE Minns Labor Government has voted down NSW Nationals’ amendments to strengthen laws for repeat youth offenders, while the NSW Greens want the age of criminal responsibility lifted to 14.

NSW Nationals say that while the government’s Bill essentially adopts the position in Victoria, the amendments would have seen New South Wales adopt the Queensland position that has been in place since 1899,

In Queensland, conviction rates for young offenders aged 10-13 held steady between 2016 and 2023. This law is tested, effective, and proven.

Nationals Leader, Gurmesh Singh, said the Bill protects the legal system instead of the community.

“When the law stops holding repeat young offenders to account, they stop fearing the law,” Mr Singh said.

“If we remove consequences, we remove any incentive for a repeat young offender to turn things around.”

The Bill also takes away the ability for courts to order a maximum of a possible 250 hours community service for youth offenders – reducing the maximum to 35 hours.

“This reduction is not justified and ignores the benefits of community service to preventing future crimes by young offenders,” Mr Singh said.

Meanwhile, NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice, Sue Higginson, has welcomed the decision to legislate the doli incapax test, but says the announcement fails to address the evidence and fails to deliver the urgent change needed to keep children and communities safe.

“Legislating the existing doli incapax presumption is welcome, but the Minns Labor Government has once again stopped short of the single reform that all experts, First Nations leaders and the United Nations have been demanding for decades,” Ms Higginson said.

“We must raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14. Anything less leaves New South Wales trapped in a cycle of political panic and child harm.

“The Government is telling the public these changes will keep communities safe, but the evidence shows the opposite. Children aged 10 to 13 do not have the cognitive capacity to understand criminal intent and early contact with the criminal legal system dramatically increases the likelihood of future offending.

“The review the Government commissioned confirmed this, yet the Government continues to ignore it,” she said.

“The Attorney General and Premier are trying to present the announcement as a bold move, but codifying an existing common law presumption does not address the real crisis.

“What we needed was a commitment to keep children out of prisons, invest in community-led supports and finally stop criminalising the youngest and most vulnerable.

“First Nations children are already massively overrepresented in the youth justice system and they will continue to be harmed by a Government that refuses to listen to Aboriginal peak bodies calling for an Aboriginal led response.

“We cannot keep repeating the mistakes that experts and communities have been warning about for decades.

“The limited diversion reforms are only a partial fix. Children should not need to navigate criminal charges to access support.

“The Government has missed the opportunity to shift to a true public health model that prevents offending rather than punishing it,” she said.

“New South Wales cannot claim to be serious about youth crime while it locks up ten-year-olds. The evidence is clear. Raising the age keeps communities safer. It keeps children safer. It is consistent with international law.

“The Government’s refusal to act on the full issue is a failure of leadership and a failure of courage,” Ms Higginson said.