‘Our children deserve better’: Proposed youth crime bill draws widespread criticism

A parliamentary inquiry into the LNP government’s proposed changes to youth justice laws has drawn heavy criticism from youth advocates and peak organisations, with concerns the legislation violates human rights and disregards evidence-based approaches.

The Making Queensland Safer Bill was introduced to parliament on Thursday. While it has been referred to a committee for further examination, it is almost certain to pass given the LNP, which has a majority in parliament, promised to make it a government priority.

Public hearings to consider the legislation’s impact began in Brisbane on Monday with the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee hearing from a range of experts and advocates, including those affected by youth crime.

David Crisafulli promised to prioritise legislative changes to youth crime laws if elected, and has so far kept his word. Credit: Matt Dennien

Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes acknowledged the tragedies that had occurred because of young offenders, but rejected the bill’s punitive aims.

“Retribution and punishment does not make the community safer, rehabilitation and reintegration does,” she said.

“There’s no evidence to support that detention reduces this serious reoffending.”

Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) chief executive Aimee McVeigh said the organisation does not support the bill and cautioned the likelihood of harm to disadvantaged children.

“Children committing crime in Queensland are likely to have been exposed to domestic and family violence, use drugs and have poor access to health education and housing,” she said.

“Children interacting with the youth justice system have high levels of physical cognitive and neurological disabilities, cognitive impairments, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, traumatic brain injury, learning difficulties and mental health issues.

“All of these issues are connected to the behaviour which becomes problematic, criminal behaviour.”

The Bar Association of Queensland president Cate Heyworth‐Smith called the proposed changes “profound” and a “clear departure” from international principles.

“These principles reflect a body of evidence about child development and in particular about decision-making and consequential thinking and the important role that rehabilitative measures place in improving the life of the child and the community.

“This bill will place Queensland as an outlier in respect of our dealing with child offenders in comparison to all Australian jurisdictions ... it also involves numerous provisions which are clearly, in the government’s own assessment, incompatible with the Human Rights Act.”

Program director for Sisters Inside, an advocacy group for the rights of women and girls in prison, Zofia Wasiak, condemned the “racial, gendered violence that this legislation will perpetuate” and called for an end to the “criminalisation and incarceration of children”.

“[The laws] target Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and will not deliver community safety.

“We object to the way the government has rushed through legislation providing little time for consultation ... [and we] will not stand by quietly and watch a government lock up kids and throw away the key.

“Our children deserve better.”

Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) chief executive Garth Morgan also expressed disappointment in the time given to consider the legislation.

“These proposed laws will shift the state’s approach to how we treat children and young people who offend in a nontrivial way.

“We feel the legislative reform of this magnitude deserves proper consideration that we fear will not occur within the timeframes outlined.”

Hearings will continue in Townsville on Tuesday, with written submissions closing midday, December 3. The committee is due to table its report on Friday, December 6.

The Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024 will amend the Youth Justice Act 1992 to:

• introduce ‘adult crime, adult time’;
• remove the principle of detention as a last resort and that a non-custodial order is better than detention in promoting a child’s ability to reintegrate into the community;
• promote the consideration of the impacts of offending on victims in the Charter of Youth Justice Principles and when sentencing a child;
• ensure a child’s criminal history reflects their full history;
• enable a person’s child criminal history to be admitted when sentenced as an adult;
• default to an ‘opt out’ mechanism for victims on the victim information register; and
• alter the process relating to the transfer of 18-year-old detainees from youth detention centres to adult correctional centres.

The Bill will also amend the Childrens Court Act 1992 to:

• ensure the victim or a member of the victim’s family can be present during criminal proceedings; and
• enable the media to be present during criminal proceedings by omitting the ability of a court to make an exclusion order under section 20(2).