Juvenile Justice in Australiaa

Juvenile Justice The Juvenile Justice Act 1992 (QLD) defines a juvenile as a young person under the age of 17 years. It maintains that a child under the age of 10 years is not considered criminally responsible, and is incapable of forming 'criminal intent'. Similarly, a child under the age of 14 years is not considered criminally responsible, unless it is proven that the child understood the offence was morally wrong. The extent of Police Powers over juveniles, the …

…could be viewed as a positive step towards reducing youth crime. It is obvious that prevention is better than the cure and by focusing on prevention strategies, as opposed to harsher penalties are issues which need to be considered. The police and justice system can only do so much in enforcing law on young criminals and at the present, the system is relatively ineffective in preventing youth crime and therefore changes need to be made.