Faced with an ongoing crime crisis across the Territory, the Fyles Government has made the NT the first jurisdiction in the country to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.

The controversial legislation passed late Tuesday night in Parliament 16-8 and will see all convicted youth criminals under 12 having their records expunged.

Attorney General Chansey Paech said the increased age of criminal responsibility would “help break the cycle of youth re-offending in the NT”, but the Opposition CLP said it would instead “greenlight all crime, no matter how serious, for under 12s”.

The controversial move was one of more than 200 recommendations made by the royal commission into youth detention in the NT, but was also part of a United Nations campaign across the country to raise the age from 10 to 14.

Despite no other state or territory implementing the change, the Fyles Labor Government will now become the first to raise the age to 12 with a view to raising it to 14 in two years.

In Parliament on Tuesday, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles recited studies that showed the earlier a child entered the justice system, the more likely they are to reoffend. She did not mention the unique challenges of the Northern Territory and the ongoing crime crisis that has seen children under 12 involved in serious crimes, including stealing cars, aggravated assaults and holding up servos with weapons.

“When you sentence a 10- or 11-year-old to prison, you’re not sentencing them to rehabilitation, to a life of better behaviour, to be that upstanding citizen,” Ms Fyles said.

“You are sentencing them to increased behavioural problems, and potentially and most likely, the evidence shows us, a life of criminal activity.

“Primary school-aged kids … are not hardened criminals who need to be locked away.”

Opposition CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro said the “reckless bill” would have “far-reaching consequences” for Territorians.

She was particularly critical of the expunged records of all 12-year-olds.

“Any youth, even a 17-year-old, will have their record expunged for offences committed when under the age of 12,” she said.

“At the stroke of a pen, Labor is sending an untold number crimes down the memory hole and pretending they never happened.”

During debate over the bill, the CLP asked a series of questions about the effect of the new laws, including if an offender under 12 could be held responsible for murder, but the questions were repeatedly dismissed by Labor as being “hypotheticals”.

“After avoiding the questions by calling them ‘hypothetical’ and using standing orders 33 times, the Fyles Government finally admitted there were no consequences for any crime committed by an offender under 12 years of age.

“It’s basically a free-for-all for young criminals. Labor has sent a dangerous message to them, telling them to go their hardest because there won’t be any consequences.”

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley said it was not the time to raise the age of criminal responsibility.

“I think this does not pass the expectations of the community,” she said. “I think if we were to see crime drop and reduce in the Northern Territory, then people would be more open to this fairly radical change.

“And why haven’t other jurisdictions doen it? Because they’re probably concerned with the same things.

“This generation of child criminals in the NT will now have their criminal and anti-social behaviour reinforced, by there being no consequences.”

Support for change, but crucial prevention programs still not in place

One of the biggest criticisms of the reforms was that the government was passing them without having the necessary prevention, intervention and diversion programs in place.

Mr Paech said the new law would not come into effect until next year which would give the government time to establish the crucial programs that it has been unable to bring in for the last six years.

The move to raise the age was supported by independent Mulka MLA Yingiya Guyula who said he had hoped its passage was a step towards changing “racist systems” in the NT.

“When our children are becoming more responsible and aware of their actions, it is an age we expect to see them hunting for their families and teaching younger children to hunt and protecting them from harm,” he said.

The change to the age of responsibility has also been applauded by children’s commissioners across the country, as well as Aboriginal justice organisations.

“Hopefully this will mean that now 10 and 11-year-olds in the Northern Territory will get the care and support and therapeutic treatments that they need, if they find themselves in trouble with the police, and that’s a really good thing,” Australian Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollands told the ABC.

“That’s what a civilised country should be providing for those very young children.”

She added the community-based prevention programs would be critical to bringing about change.

The North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency said it supports the changes and that “the tough on crime approach has failed” over the past two decades.

“[We call] for [the] government to reinvest in Aboriginal community leadership to address issues of youth offending, instead of falling back on a failed approach time and time again,” said NAAJA acting CEO Mark Munnich.