The NSW parliament will for the first time consider raising the age of criminal responsibility, as jurisdictions across Australia face international pressure to keep kids out of prison.
Greens MLC David Shoebridge on Thursday introduced to parliament a new bill that would lift the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and require alternatives to prison for under 16s.
Children as young as 10 can be prosecuted and imprisoned under current NSW laws, which are mirrored across the country.
Currently only the ACT has committed to changing the age of criminal responsibility.
"At ages 10 and 11 children are still losing their baby teeth, they don't have their pen licences let alone driver's licences," Mr Shoebridge said.
"Some of these young people spend their first night away from their families in a prison cell."
Research shows early contact with the criminal legal system increases chances of reoffending, with child offenders often lacking impulse control and not understanding the consequences of their actions.
The current laws also disproportionately affect Indigenous children.
In 2020, almost 500 children aged between 10 and 13 were sent to jail across Australia.
About two thirds of them are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander youngsters, despite Indigenous people making up only three per cent of Australia's population.
The Greens bill was welcomed by an array of justice and health organisations.
'At the Aboriginal Legal Service, we've gone to court to represent children that the evidence says shouldn't be there at all," Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT's Nadine Miles said.
"This is inexcusable."
However the bill will not pass without support from government MPs.
The federal government is also under international pressure to raise the age of criminal responsibility - commonly 14 in other developed nations.
More than 30 UN countries earlier this year signed a recommendation that Australia lift the age, but Australia's representative in July said it was ultimately a decision for each state and territory.
The NSW government has passed the buck back.
In response to a parliamentary review on the high level of Indigenous people in custody, the state government last month failed to support a recommendation the age of criminal responsibility be raised.
The subject is being considered at a national level, it said.
"NSW supports this process, noting that any reform to the minimum age of criminal responsibility in NSW would need to be in the best interests of the community, with the safety of the community a key consideration," the NSW government wrote in response to the inquiry.
"Appropriate alternatives to the criminal justice system would need to be available to address offending behaviour by those deemed too young to be criminally responsible for their actions."
But Mr Shoebridge says there are already alternatives to prison - which include treatment programs, additional warnings and community orders - but that they are often only available to kids from wealthy, white backgrounds.
Children simply do not belong in prison, he said.
"(They) need our protection, help to learn and grow, and support to break cycles of offending and disadvantage," he said.
"They deserve a chance to learn from their mistakes and help to overcome disadvantage."
