Law change for ‘horror’ car thefts with kids inside
Callum Godde |
Criminals who steal cars with a child inside face more jail time after disturbing high-profile cases in one state.
Victoria’s contentious “adult time for violent crime” laws, introduced to parliament on Tuesday, would simultaneously expand the offence of carjacking to vehicles stolen with children under 10 inside.
Such incidents when force is not threatened or used are currently classed as theft of a motor vehicle, which carries a lower penalty.
Under the change, Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said it would be a carjacking whether or not an offender knew a child was in the vehicle and subject to up to 15 years in prison.
The state government is responding to the “new type of offending” and concerns of victims and their families, she said.
Ms Kilkenny specifically referred to an incident at Shepparton in central Victoria on November 14 in which a man allegedly stole a red Volkswagen with a 15-month-old sleeping inside.
Police allege CCTV footage showed the man stopping the car after discovering the baby, before placing it in a box in the car park where they were found by the mother.
He was charged with the theft of a motor vehicle, reckless conduct endangering serious injury and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
In a similar case, two men were charged in 2023 after stealing a car at Chelsea in Melbourne’s southeast with a toddler asleep in the back seat.
The car stopped after about 350 metres and the two-year-old boy was left by the side of the road.
“As a mum, I have watched in horror when I’ve seen these particular stories,” Ms Kilkenny told reporters.
It comes as Victoria confronts surging crime rates, with criminal offences spiking 15.7 per cent in the year to mid-2025 fuelled by theft, home invasion and repeat youth offenders.
With a state election less than a year away, the Allan government has vowed tougher consequences for youths under reforms that mimic Queensland’s “adult time for adult crime” approach.
Under the legislation, children 14 and over charged with home invasions, aggravated home invasion, recklessly or intentionally causing injury and aggravated carjacking will be dealt with in the County Court.
Ms Kilkenny confirmed there will be a carve-out for accused 14-year-olds with “exceptional or compelling circumstances” to remain in the Children’s Court.
She cited children with cognitive development issues or mental illness, with judges to be granted discretion to decide on the appropriateness of them facing a jury trial in the County Court.
The government has earmarked the legislation as an “urgent bill”, with both houses of parliament to sit all week until it passes.
“If we get this bill through, there will be elements of these laws that can take effect immediately on royal assent,” Ms Kilkenny said.
The shortening of debate leaves little time for the opposition, crossbench MPs, legal minds or public members to scrutinise the measures.
The coalition has called the changes “weak and full of loopholes” but won’t stand in their way.
“The only thing taken from Queensland is the slogan, not tough laws with real consequences,” shadow attorney-general James Newbury said.
AAP
