the use of multifactorial medical approaches for the assessment of chronological age.the use of other biomedical markers for the assessment of chronological age.the ethical implications of the use of x-rays for the assessment of chronological age.the use of dental x-rays for the assessment of chronological age.the use of wrist x-rays for the assessment of chronological age.This chapter also gives brief consideration to the analysis of other biomedical markers for the purposes of age assessment in criminal proceedings. Consequently, consideration is additionally given in this chapter to the question of whether it is appropriate to use dental x-ray analysis as a means of assessing age in criminal proceedings. Also, as recently as November 2011, the Commonwealth was considering specifying dental x-rays as a prescribed procedure for determining age for the purposes of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth). The question of how wrist x-ray analysis has been used in practice during investigation and prosecution processes, and the impact of its use in specific cases, is considered in Chapter 4Īlthough dental x-ray analysis has not been used as a means of assessing age in the context of criminal proceedings in Australia, the process has been offered to a number of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences whose age was in doubt. This chapter considers the use of wrist x-ray analysis as a means of assessing age, and whether it is sufficiently informative of whether a young male person has attained 18 years of age. As noted in Chapter 1, the Commission is not aware of any female person having been suspected of people smuggling. Consequently, this chapter considers whether it is appropriate to adduce expert analysis of a wrist x-ray, or any other biomedical marker, as evidence in a criminal proceeding on the issue of whether a young male is under the age of 18 years. As this Inquiry is considering the treatment of young Indonesian males suspected of people smuggling who say that they are children, it is important to consider the appropriateness of this and other age assessment processes in this context. Since 2001, the primary method of assessing whether an individual is under the age of 18 years in the context of criminal proceedings in Australia has been through the analysis of an x-ray of the young person’s wrist. An age of uncertainty Inquiry into the treatment of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences who say that they are children Chapter 2: Biomedical markers and the assessment of chronological age 1 Introduction

Chronological age in months