Grace Tame shares heartbreaking moment
Grace Tame, the 2021 Australian of the Year, has applauded the recent decision the ACT made to raise the age of criminal responsibility while making a tragic admission of her own.
The territory will be the first jurisdiction in Australia to raise the criminal age of responsibility from 10 to 14, with the legislation set to be introduced to parliament next year.
The youth justice system will also go through a complete overhaul which has been endorsed by an independent review.
Currently, children aged 10 or older across Australia can be held criminally responsible for their actions and sentenced to juvenile detention.
31 UN member states have called on Australia to raise the age of responsibility to be in line with the 2019 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Taking to Twitter, Ms Tame described the decision as a “bold” step for the territory.
“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,” she said.
“Here’s hoping this will lift the national standard.”
In a follow-up tweet, the 26-year-old shared a photo of herself when she was 10, which was the first time she disclosed the 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 explained in the tweet.
“It was on this very trip that I first disclosed to my older cousin that I’d been molested as a six-year-old.
“Abused and disadvantaged children deserve to be supported, not punished.”
Ms Tame shared the heartbreaking image days after she was the recipient of criticism from Janet Albrechtsen, a journalist at The Australian.
Ms Albrechtsen claimed Ms Tame is “dividing the country” and “surrendering” to “dirty partisan politics” after the activist shared her views on the controversial interview Jessica Rowe conducted with senator Pauline Hanson.
Ms Tame became known for her activism after she participated in News Corps’ Let Her Speak campaign, following her win in the Supreme Court of Tasmania case that allowed her to publicly identify as a rape survivor.
Image: @TamePunk / Twitter