Australian Human Rights Commission Current issues and good practices in prison management, 16 November 2023 46. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that, on an average day in 2021–22, 18% (822) of young people aged 10 and over who were under youth justice supervision were in detention and almost 3 in 4 were unsentenced (76%). More than half (452 or 55%) of the young people in detention on an average day in 2021–22 were First Nations young people.72 3.1 Criminal age of responsibility 47. The Commission considers the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Australia, of 10 years, to be too low. While offending by young children should not go unaddressed, criminalising children for their behaviour at such a young age is ineffective at preventing future offending behaviour while also running counter to human rights. 48. Raising the age of criminal responsibility alone will not solve the problem of youth offending. However, it is hoped that raising the age will open the door to a new approach to dealing with the younger cohort of offenders, one that focuses on their welfare, and which aims to prevent future offending and reduce recidivism. As has been noted by the Australian and New Zealand Children's Commissioners and Guardians, what is required in Australia is for ‘all jurisdictions to prioritise the twin actions of legislating to raise the age of criminal responsibility and implementing holistic systems of early intervention and diversion’.73 49. In March 2022, the Queensland Legislative Assembly’s Community Support and Services Committee examined the Criminal Law (Raising the Age of Responsibility) Amendment Bill 2021, which seeks to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. The Committee did not recommend the Bill be passed; but recommended the Queensland Government continue to work on raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12.74 The Bill subsequently failed to pass in August 2022. 50. In June 2022, the Tasmanian Government committed to raising the age of detention from 10 to 14 by the end of 2024.75 In July 2023, the Commissioner for Children and Young People (Tasmania) released a Memorandum of Advice to the Tasmanian Government to assist the transition of raising the age and better promote the wellbeing of children.76 In September 2023, the Commission of Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommended the Tasmanian Government ‘[i]ntroduce legislation to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, without exception’.77 51. In November 2022, the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly passed the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2022, that raised the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, coming into effect on 1 August 2023.78 The 12