Raising an issue, apparently

RAISE THE AGE DECISION POSTPONED

Australia’s Council of Attorneys-General (CAG) have postponed making a decision about raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, meaning that for now children as young as 10 can still be arrested, charged and imprisoned.

As The Canberra Times reports, NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman called for evidence of alternatives to prison — which Australia has had access to for years now, from Indigenous-led “justice reinvestment” to European welfare programs — and announced the Berejiklian government is not convinced the age should be raised at all, citing community concerns over allegations that 13-year-olds raped a 5-year-old in June.

Speakman did not, however, address the issue of the hundreds of other children imprisoned for crimes related to property, fraud, drugs, traffic, public order, and other non-violent offences, all of whom are now much more likely to re-enter prison later in life.

PS: In related news, NT News ($) reports that a lawyer for two former Don Dale detainees yesterday told a court they “started saying their goodbyes” to each other because they “thought they were going to die” while being tear-gassed in their cells.

PPS: As The Guardian reports, CAG was able to agree on overhauling Australia’s defamation laws, with Speakman announcing the reset would curb “crippling damages payouts, chilling public interest journalism and clogging courts with minor claims”.

ROYAL COMMISSION? AMA

According to Herald Sun, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for a royal commission into Victoria’s handling of the current COVID-19 outbreak, intended to go beyond the previously-announced hotel quarantine inquiry and incorporate everything from aged care to contact tracing.

The call comes amidst the ongoing aged care crisis, with St. Basil’s Home for the Aged subject to both the highest caseload — 84 of the states’ total 800 aged care-linked cases — and multiple ongoing controversies:

As the ABC details, the sector has also seen fresh evacuations, staffing rules, and a new Victorian Aged Care Response Centre set up by the state and federal governments.

Finally, in a small victory that could help mitigate the insecure work crisis currently exacerbating the sector’s outbreaks, The New Daily reports that the Fair Work Commission has awarded two weeks’ of paid pandemic leave to aged-care workers required to self-isolate.

A QUICK COVID-19 OVERVIEW

Buckle up, because it’s another heavy morning for COVID-19 news:

PS: In non-COVID health news, the ABC reports that the Morrison government plans to remove Medicare rebates for GPs interpreting routine heart procedures, a move Labor, the Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian College of GPs and Rural Doctors Association have all slammed in warnings to Health Minister Greg Hunt.

BLM PROTEST TO GO AHEAD

Finally, after losing an appeal against the NSW Supreme Court, masked Black Lives Matter protesters will today meet in groups of 20 — the state’s limit for outdoor groups — at the Domain in Sydney.

While the ABC notes that Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has still threatened to fine protesters, BLM organiser Paddy Gibson has cited national inaction on Indigenous deaths in custody and the campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility — as well as the fact community sporting events are, weirdly enough, only limited to 500 participants — as reasons to proceed on The Project.

POLITICAL PRISONERS ABROAD: To shift to an entirely separate activist’s legal troubles, The Guardian reports that Julian Assange’s legal team has argued that US Attorney-General William Barr may be using the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition case — and a new superseding indictment publicised last month but yet to be served to the UK courts — for political ends.