Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin has unleashed a fierce attack on Premier Jacinta Allan and her government, accusing Labor of misleading Victorians over its promised “Adult Time for Violent Crime” reforms, which he claimed were not even fully written.
Speaking earlier today, Battin said it was unacceptable for the government to make public announcements without legislation ready to protect the community.
“I’m sorry, you can’t come out with a media release and not have the legislation written to protect Victorians,” he said. “That is an absolute joke. This is the absolute highlight of the absolute shit this government feeds the community.”
The government insists it will introduce the bill before the end of the year, but Allan admitted on Wednesday morning that “the bill is being drafted right now.”
The proposal resembles the Queensland Liberal-National Party’s “Adult Crime, Adult Time” laws, introduced late last year. Queensland has since reported a drop of nearly 10,000 victims across nine major crime categories, but critics say Victoria’s version is far weaker.
Shadow Attorney-General James Newbury said the government had “ripped the guts out” of the Queensland model.
“The government appears to be proposing a law that covers just five violent crimes, compared to Queensland’s 33,” Newbury said.
He accused Allan of bowing to the left faction of her party:
“She’s been rolled by her team. She’s got the headline and the announcement — but it’s not going to solve the problem, just like everything else she does with crime.”
Newbury said the Coalition would “look at it closely” before deciding whether to support the legislation.
Meanwhile, youth justice advocates have slammed the proposed reforms as counterproductive and harmful.
Victoria Legal Aid chief executive Toby Hemming said there was “no need” for more children to face adult courts, arguing that most young offenders come from backgrounds of trauma and disadvantage.
“These children need support to build stable lives and avoid reoffending — something the adult system is not designed to do,” he said.
Kate Bundrock, Victoria Legal Aid’s Criminal Law Director, warned that treating children as adults would only increase reoffending rates.
“The younger a child is when jailed, the more likely they are to return to crime,” she said.
Vicki Mau, from child advocacy group 54 Reasons, said the policy violated children’s rights.
“Locking up kids potentially for life doesn’t make communities safer — it just delays the problem,” she said.
The announcement marks a major shift in Labor’s justice policy. Under former Premier Daniel Andrews, the government had softened laws for youth offenders and raised the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. Allan later abandoned plans to raise it to 14.
Greens justice spokeswoman Katherine Copsey condemned the new direction as “an astonishing capitulation”.
“Experts are crying out for prevention and diversion programs — not punishment that fails to make our state safer,” she said.
