The Northern Territory is first Australian jurisdiction to raise its minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 years. 

In a move the National Children's Commissioner has welcomed as a “first step only”, a bill raising the NT's lower age limit for criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 was passed by a 16-8 majority this week.

The bill specifies that children aged 12 or 13 years old can only be considered criminally responsible for an offence “if the child knows that [their] conduct is wrong”.

Attorney-General Chansey Paech said the cycle of youth re-offending in the NT must be broken. 

“The revolving door to our detention centres stops here, the cycle of youth crime stops here,” he said. 

“To make our community safer we must adopt smarter solutions that reduce crime … smart solutions that are proven to break the cycle of reoffending, prevent crime, and keep the community safe.”

The NT government has also pledged to increase diversion programs and consider further lifting the age to 14. 

The decision comes five years after raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years appeared as one of more than 200 recommendations made by the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory. 

Federal, state and territory attorneys-general have been discussing changing the age nationwide for several years. Only the NT and ACT have taken steps to do so. 

The UN recommends a minimum age of 14.