Children as young as 14 could sentenced to jail for life in Victoria soon
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Victoria is following in the footsteps of its northern neighbour Queensland by formally introducing tougher sentences for youth criminals in an 11th hour bid to combat the state's crime crisis.
The Jacinta Allan government announced that "adult time for violent crime" will be the catch-all tagline for how Victorian courts could soon sentence children aged 14 and above who commit violent crimes.
The state government will introduce this controversial bill in parliament today, a key justice reform which aims to significantly increase the likelihood a youth criminal will be sentenced to time in prison.
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In the Victorian courts, 97 per cent of adults sentenced for aggravated home invasion or aggravated carjackings go to jail.
However, 34 per cent of children and young people sentenced for the same crimes are given prison time.
The state government wants jail time – even to life in prison in some cases – to be the mandatory consequence for these types of violent crime committed by child offenders.
Currently, the maximum sentence in a children's court for aggravated home invasion or a single offence for children aged between 14 and in 17 is three years in prison.
In an adult court, it is 25 years in jail.
Adult time for violent crime would mean these offences can carry a life sentence for anybody aged 14 and above.
The bill, if passed in parliament, would require some significant amendments to the Crimes Act, the Children, Youth and Families Act and the Youth Justice Act.
The government said it wants to push the law through parliament to ensure the courts can enforce it from 2026.
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So, why is this happening now?
Politicians have been battling it out over the state's escalating crime crisis for some time.
Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley even labelled Melbourne as the country's "crime capital" earlier this year.
Sobering police statistics released in September pointed to a growing youth crime issue.
Young offenders were "overrepresented" in serious and violent crimes including robberies and aggravated burglaries in the 12 months to June 2025.
Almost 50 per cent (47.7) of all aggravated burglaries were perpetrated by children (aged under 17), police said.
The government hopes the threat of going to jail will be incentive enough to stop young people breaking the law.
It wants to abolish the rule that jailing children is the "last resort" in the court system.
"We want courts to treat these violent children like adults, so jail is more likely and sentences are longer," Premier Allan said.
"This will mean more violent youth offenders going to jail, facing serious consequences."
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What are the crimes subject to adult jail sentences?
- Aggravated home invasion
- Home invasion
- Intentionally causing injury in circumstances of gross violence (includes machete crime)
- Recklessly causing injury in circumstances of gross violence (includes machete crime)
- Aggravated carjacking
- Carjacking
- Aggravated burglary (serious and repeated)
- Armed robbery (serious and repeated)
Is this working in Queensland?
Adult time for violent crime is inspired by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli's similar "adult crime, adult time" law which was passed in December last year.
It was one of the pillars of the campaign that saw the LNP sweep into government following a crime crisis in the state.
A little less than 3000 youth criminals were charged under the landmark law in Queensland between December 2024 and October 2025.
The Queensland government praised its own laws and said it had been making the state safer – pointing to a 10.8 per cent reduction in victims of crime between January and October this year.
Police data also found the number of victims of stolen cars dropped by 15.6 per cent, break-ins 21.2 per cent and robberies by 12.6 per cent over the first nine months of 2025.
"These are promising early signs, but we are not taking our foot off the pedal," Crisafulli said of the statistics.
Criticism over sending children to jail
Youth experts and advocates have broadly criticised this approach to tackling crime.
The Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission said in a statement it was "highly concerned" that children aged between 14 and 17 could face life behind bars in the state.
"We didn't get here overnight. Preventing children from committing crime is complex requiring long term action to address underlying problems of poverty, trauma and injustice," a spokesperson said.
"Children who commit crimes often have a disability, are the victims of crime themselves or have been in the child protection system."
One criminologist even warned it could have the opposite effect.
"Once you process a young person through the system and you put them into custody, the likelihood of them re-engaging in criminal activity is absolutely significant," Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice studies at RMIT Marietta Martinovic said.
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