The Labor government has resisted calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. More than 400 of the court matters finalised in 2020-21 involved children aged under 14.

Judge Richards said boys represented 72 per cent of finalised appearances,there remained a significant over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children,and “once again,10 per cent of juveniles have committed 46 per cent of the finalised charges in the youth justice system.