While many countries set their minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) around 12-14, Portugal and Argentina stand out with higher ages, at 16 years old, for full responsibility, with other nations like Sweden and Denmark at 15, though some countries have exceptions or lower ages for very serious crimes, making 16 a very high threshold.
In Australia, along with New Zealand, England and Wales, young people are deemed to have criminal responsibility if they are aged 10 or older (Table 1)—although young people in New Zealand under the age of 14 can only be prosecuted for the offences of murder and manslaughter (Noetic Solutions 2010).
The highest unrestricted age of consent is 21, though this age of consent is only the case in Bahrain and the specific instance of females receiving anal sex in Hong Kong. Disregarding these exceptions, the unrestricted ages of consent in Asia range between 13 and 18.
Crime rate by country 2025: 10 countries with the highest crime...
Australia's peak medical and legal bodies have welcomed the findings and recommendations of an Australian Human Rights Commission report into Youth Justice, which include raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years. The National Children's Commissioner's report, 'Help way earlier!
Japan's parliament on Friday raised the age of sexual consent to 16 from 13, a limit which had remained unchanged for more than a century and was among the world's lowest, amid calls for greater protection of children and women.
Australia has been a perennial top ten inhabitant of the safest countries ratings since it launched seven years ago – and in 2026, we're holding strong in second place.
Iceland. Ranked number one since 2008, Iceland remains the world's most peaceful nation, leading across all three domains: safety and security, ongoing conflict and militarisation. It even recorded a 2% improvement this year, widening the gap from the second-place country on the list.
Australia crime rate per 100K population for 2021 was 0.74, a 13.52% decline from 2020. Australia crime rate per 100K population for 2020 was. Australia crime rate per 100K population for 2019 was 0.89, a 0.29% increase from 2018. Australia crime rate per 100K population for 2018 was 0.88, a 4.6% increase from 2017.
Sexual activity involving someone under the age of 16 is illegal, with no specific close-in-age exemption. Once an individual is 16, they can consent to sexual activity with a partner of any age, provided no relationship of authority or power exists.
Attempts were made by the Iraqi parliament to lower the age of consent in Iraq to 9 in 2024.
The age of consent in Germany is 14, as long as a person over the age of 21 does not exploit a 14- to 15-year-old person's lack of capacity for sexual self-determination, in which case a conviction of an individual over the age of 21 requires a complaint from the younger individual; being over 21 and engaging in sexual ...
In Aotearoa New Zealand, 10 & 11-year-olds can be given life sentences. Primary school aged kids shouldn't be facing life sentences and right now, our government has the power to stop it. In Aotearoa, our minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10. This is the age that kids can be prosecuted and punished for a crime.
Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world in 2021, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, and Slovenia.
According to international rankings, Venezuela and South Africa often have the highest national crime indexes. These countries see very high rates of violent crime, including assault and murder. Haiti and Papua New Guinea are also regularly near the top globally.
Yemen is the least peaceful country in the world in the 2024 GPI, followed by Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. This is the first year that Yemen has been ranked as the least peaceful country in the world, with the country having fallen 24 places in the rankings since the inception of the index.
Homicide rate: Australia's homicide rate hovers around 0.8 per 100,000 people, compared to the U.S. rate of approximately 6 per 100,000. Property crime: Both countries experience property crime, but Australia's rates are generally lower, and violent property crimes (like armed burglary) are less common.
Australia's largest terrestrial predator is the Dingo, a native canine that acts as an apex predator, managing herbivore populations and benefiting ecosystem health, though the marine saltwater crocodile is the continent's largest overall reptile predator, while the extinct Thylacoleo carnifex (marsupial lion) was Australia's largest-ever mammalian predator.
Canberra is officially Australia's #1 safest city, with a crime index rating of 26 out of 100. That places it as the 49th safest city in the world. This ranking comes from Compare the Market Australia, which analysed 6 years of public data from Numbeo's crime index.
Japanese Civil Code
The minimum age for marriage used to be 18 for men, and 16 for women. However, following the change in the age of adulthood in Japan from April 1st, 2022, it has become 18 for both men and women.
Legal definitions
There is no specific rule providing a legal age of consent for sexual activity, but there are laws criminalizing sexual activity with a person below age 16 or with a person between the ages of 16-18 “in exchange for consideration.”
Japan lowered the age of adulthood in 2018 from 20 years of age to 18 which took effect in 2022.