The government this week abandoned a promise to raise the age to 14, the policy shift coinciding with a series of high-profile fatal incidents involving alleged youth offenders in recent months.
Debate in the Legislative Council on Thursday ran until after 1am on Friday as members debated hundreds of amendments.
It passed with an absolute majority and is expected to easily progress through the lower house when parliament resumes later this month.
The bill passed Victoria's Legislative Council after a marathon debate. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)
The Greens voted in favour, despite being highly critical of not raising the age to 14, after successfully pushing for a ban on spit hoods and reporting on the use of strip searches.
Other reforms in the legislation include a trial of electronic monitoring of young people on bail, a new charge of committing a serious offence while on bail for adults and children and changes to the Bail Act to highlight aggravated burglary, carjacking and home invasion as crimes that pose an unacceptable community risk.
No children under 14 are currently incarcerated in Victoria, Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters on Monday.
Former premier Daniel Andrews originally intended to lift the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027, with exceptions for serious offences such as rape and murder.
The backflip was welcomed by Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, but attracted condemnation from Indigenous, legal and youth groups.
Premier Jacinta Allan says no children under 14 are currently jailed in Victoria. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)
Children as young as 10 can be charged and imprisoned across Australia, except in the Northern Territory, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 12.
The age will be raised to 14 in the ACT by 2025 with some exceptions, while the Tasmanian government promised to raise the minimum age of criminal detention to 14.
Public debate on alleged youth offenders flared following the deaths of three men in Melbourne.
William Taylor, 28, and GP Ashley Gordon died following incidents allegedly involving teenagers earlier this year, while police are searching for the driver of a car that fatally struck 19-year-old motorcyclist Davide Pollina over the weekend.
There was a 25 per cent jump in the number of alleged offenders aged 15-17 in the 12 months to March 2024.
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