From ‘raise the age’ to ‘raise the awareness’: How knowledge affects public opinion of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Western Australia

Authors/Creators

Suzanne Rock, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Natalie Gately, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Piero Moraro, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
James L. Finney, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow

Author Identifier (ORCID)

Suzanne Rock: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8211-6936

Natalie Gately: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8687-9540

Piero Moraro: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4204-3634

James L. Finney: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5276-414X

Abstract

The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in Western Australia is 10 years old. While the negative impacts of early contact with justice systems have been well-documented and have resulted in calls to raise the age, research had not examined the public views of MACR in Western Australia. This article presents a novel examination of the knowledge and perceptions of the MACR with a sample of the West Australian public (n = 69). Findings from the semi-structured interviews revealed low levels of knowledge about the MACR, some reacted with surprise when provided with the information. Participants’ views shifted in that they expected children knew ‘right from wrong’, however, they acknowledged discrepancies with other age-dependent social milestones and that the MACR was inconsistent with developmental maturity levels. They supported rehabilitative options unless the crime was serious and concluded the MACR needed to be assessed and applied proportionally on a case-by-case basis so that children who had offended could be held accountable. Finally, most participants supported raising the age from 10 to between 12 and 18. The study thus reaffirms the importance of increasing public awareness of the issue for the success of the ‘raise the age’ campaign in Western Australia.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2025

Volume

29

Issue

3

Publication Title

International Journal of Human Rights

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

School

School of Arts and Humanities

RAS ID

72573

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Comments

Rock, S., Gately, N., Moraro, P., & Finney, J. L. (2024). From ‘raise the age’ to ‘raise the awareness’: How knowledge affects public opinion of the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Western Australia. The International Journal of Human Rights, 29(3), 431–451. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2024.2415703

First Page

431

Last Page

451