Plans to raise the age from criminal responsibility beyond 12 in Victoria are being thrown into doubt.
The state government is persisting with raising the age to 12 but has become reticent to reaffirm a previous pledge to lift it a second time as the state grapples with a series of fatal crashes involving alleged youth offenders.
A standalone youth justice bill is set to be debated in the upper house when parliament returns from Tuesday.
It would raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years of age, create an ankle monitoring trial for repeat offenders on bail and set up a legislated scheme for warnings, cautions and diversions.
Additional measures to reduce youth crime were expected to be on the agenda when ministers met in Melbourne on Monday afternoon.
But on Monday morning, Premier Jacinta Allan wouldn't be drawn on whether her government would persist with a plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
"I'm not here today going to pre-empt any discussions that we're having as a cabinet," she told reporters.
Children as young as 10 can be charged, convicted and imprisoned across Australia, except in the Northern Territory, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in August 2023.
The ACT passed legislation to raise the age to 14 by 2025 with some exceptions, while Tasmania has pledged to raise the minimum age of criminal detention to 14.
In 2023, the Victorian government vowed to raise the age to 12 and then 14 by 2027, with exceptions for serious offences such as rape and murder.
Jesuit Social Services is concerned by reports the government may walk away from the second stage of the reform.
"Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 would ensure children aged 12 and 13 years old are responded to in a way that holds them to account for their actions, helps them understand the impact of their behaviour and supports them to get their lives on track," acting chief executive Stephen Ward said.
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Nerita Waight said experts from Aboriginal, legal, and medical organisations all agreed the minimum age should be at least 14 years old.
"We trust the premier will keep her promises," she said.
The opposition does not support raising the age to 12 or 14, suggesting courts have discretion to ensure young people who don't understand their crimes are wrong don't face trial.
"That's a discretion that courts have exercised very responsibly and we don't believe there's a need to change raising the age," Opposition Leader John Pesutto said.
Police are still searching for the driver of a stolen BMW that struck and killed a 19-year-old motorbike rider at Preston in Melbourne's north on Sunday.
Two occupants of the BMW fled the scene, with a 16-year-old boy believed to have been a passenger later arrested before being released.
It comes after the death of 28-year-old trainee doctor William Taylor on July 2 in a Burwood crash involving a stolen Jeep allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy with five other teens inside.
