Australian of the Year Grace Tame has shared a picture from the trip where she made a heartbreaking admission to a family member.
Australian of the Year Grace Tame has lauded the ACT’s decision to raise the age of criminal responsibility, making a heartbreaking admission in the process.
The territory is set to be the first Australian jurisdiction to raise the criminal age of responsibility from 10 to 14, with a complete overhaul of the youth justice system endorsed by an independent review.
Children as young as 10 years old across Australia can be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to juvenile detention.
Australia has been criticised for its refusal to raise the age. Earlier this year 31 UN member states called on Australia to raise the age in line with the 2019 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
An independent review commissioned by the ACT government released on Monday has detailed the work and reforms needed to assist in raising the age, with the new legislation set to be introduced in the territory in 2022.
Taking to Twitter, Ms Tame labelled the move a “bold step forward”.
“A bold forward step by the ACT, raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. Locking up kids — many of whom are disabled, First Nations children and/or have experienced traumas including sexual abuse — solves nothing,” the 26-year-old said.
“Here’s hoping this will lift the national standard.”
The Australian of the Year followed he tweet up with a picture of herself, aged 10, when she first disclosed the sexual assault she experienced as a six-year-old.
“Pictured above is me, aged 10. I was camping with my family on the East Coast of Tasmania,” she said.
“It was on this very trip that I first disclosed to my older cousin that I’d been molested as a six-year-old.”
Ms Tame rose to prominence via News Corp’s Let Her Speak campaign, when won her Supreme Court of Tasmania case to be able to publicly self-identify as a rape survivor.
In 2021, Ms Tame was crowned Australian of the Year for her advocacy for survivors of sexual assault.
Additional reporting by Ellen Ransley
Source: News AU