Back

Gallant Law on What Victoria's Adult Sentencing Laws Mean for Young People and Their Families

Gallant Law

Key Facts:

• Victoria's *Adult Time for Violent Crime* legislation, which took effect in February 2026, requires children aged 14 and over charged with certain serious offences — including aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking — to be sentenced in the County Court rather than the Children's Court, where 97% of young offenders receive a custodial sentence compared with 34% in the Children's Court.
• The legislation removed the requirement to treat remand in custody as a last resort for young offenders, departing from Australia's obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and drawing criticism from legal practitioners, the Law Institute of Victoria, and human rights organisations, particularly regarding the disproportionate impact on First Nations children.
• Melbourne criminal defence firm Gallant Law warns that many families are unaware their child's matter will now be heard in the County Court, where adult sentencing principles — including general deterrence and community protection — apply, with significantly longer available sentences than under the Children's Court's rehabilitation-focused framework.
• Principal Lawyer Lauren Cassimatis stresses that the changes affect the entire procedural framework from the moment a charge is filed, not just sentencing outcomes, and urges families to seek legal advice before a first mention rather than after a plea.
• The Victorian opposition has proposed expanding the adult sentencing regime further ahead of the November 2026 state election, potentially adding burglary, serious assault, and attempted murder to the list of offences subject to adult court sentencing.

MELBOURNE, Australia — 06 October 2026 — Gallant Law, a Melbourne criminal defence firm led by Lauren Cassimatis, an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist, says the changes to Victoria's youth sentencing regime that took effect in February 2026 represent one of the most significant shifts in how young people are processed through the criminal justice system in a generation, and that many families are not yet aware of what has changed.

The Adult Time for Violent Crime, which passed parliament in December 2025 and took effect from late February 2026, require children aged 14 and over charged with aggravated home invasion, aggravated carjacking, or intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence to face sentencing in the County Court rather than the Children's Court. The practical consequence is significant: 97% of young people sentenced for these offences in an adult court receive a custodial sentence, compared with 34% in the Children's Court. The legislation also removed remand in custody as a last resort for youth offenders and introduced stricter bail tests for people who committed a crime while already on bail.

The removal of the last resort principle is the change that has drawn the sharpest response from legal practitioners and human rights organisations. Under the previous framework, a court considering whether to remand a young person in custody was required to treat detention as a measure of last resort, consistent with Australia's obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. That requirement no longer applies in its prior form. Youth justice advocates, the Law Institute of Victoria, and academic researchers have raised concerns about the disproportionate impact on First Nations children, who are already significantly overrepresented in Victoria's youth justice system.

For families whose children are charged under the new regime, the practical implications begin at the point of arrest. Gallant Law's criminal defence team says the most consistent gap it is seeing is families who do not realise their child's matter will be heard in the County Court rather than the Children's Court, and who are unprepared for the adult sentencing range that applies. The Children's Court provided a framework focused on rehabilitation and minimal intervention. The County Court applies the full range of adult sentencing principles, including general deterrence and community protection, with significantly longer available sentences.

"The families who contact us after a charge has already been laid are often working with a very compressed timeline. The decision about which court hears the matter, and whether any bail application can be made, moves quickly. What has changed under these laws is not just the sentencing range at the end of the process. It is the entire procedural framework from the moment a charge is filed. Getting advice before a first mention, not after a plea, is the difference between having options and finding out what options you no longer have," said Lauren Cassimatis, Principal Lawyer and Accredited Criminal Law Specialist at Gallant Law. 

The Victorian opposition has separately pledged to expand the adult sentencing regime further if elected at the November 2026 state election, proposing to add burglary, serious assault, and attempted murder to the list of offences attracting adult court sentencing. Whether or not those proposals proceed, the current laws represent a permanent change to the sentencing landscape for young people in Victoria, and the legal advice available to families at the point of charge has become materially more important than it was before February 2026.

Disclaimer

The materials on this content provide general information on legal topics and are current at the time of publication. To the extent permitted by law, Gallant Law does not warrant the currency, accuracy or completeness of the information, which may not apply to all jurisdictions.

The materials are not legal advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice. Gallant Law disclaims liability to the extent permitted by law.

You should seek specific legal or professional advice regarding your particular circumstances.

 

About us:

About Gallant Law

Gallant Law is a Melbourne criminal defence firm led by Lauren Cassimatis, Principal Lawyer and Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Criminal Law Specialist, with more than 20 years of experience. The firm operates across Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool, Launceston, Brisbane, and Sydney, and is on the Victoria Legal Aid panels for summary, indictable, and youth crime.

Contact details:

Gallant Law

Lauren Cassimatis, Principal Lawyer

(03) 9070 9885

[email protected]