[no bill text published] Criminal offence for recruiting children to engage in serious criminal activity
Crimes Amendment (Recruitment of Children for Criminal Activity) Bill 2026
1st House
2nd House
Law
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
Adults cannot recruit children to engage in tier 1 criminal activity; this is conduct punishable by 15 years to life imprisonment.
Adults cannot recruit children to engage in tier 2 criminal activity; this is conduct punishable by 5 to 15 years imprisonment.
An adult can be convicted of recruiting a child for tier 1 activity even if the child never actually commits the crime.
The law limits how prosecutors can charge people when multiple recruiting offences are alleged.
These rules only apply to offences committed after the law starts.