Labor’s latest retreat on youth justice is a sign of a broader problem

For the second time in little more than a year, Queensland Labor has retreated under an LNP attack over laws that deal with the detention of young offenders.

This time, however, the government has failed to shift far enough to end the opposition’s pursuit: removing the sentencing principle that detention should be a last resort.

In February, Premier Steven Miles after declared the “dangerous” proposal wouldn’t work and likely boost reoffending instead.Credit: Matt Dennien

The longstanding UN-backed sentencing principle is based on extensive global evidence pointing to the need for children to be treated differently to adults in the justice system for reasons including maturity and the ability to control behaviour and make good decisions.

It is one of dozens of factors to be considered by judges in deciding whether to add another mark to Queensland’s proud tally of the most kids detained nationwide, in a system so strained that some are kept for weeks in police watchhouses meant for adults with little to no services.

A bipartisan parliamentary committee, recently disbanded because it got bogged down in party politics, also found youth detention centres were not helping the complex kids – disproportionately First Nations – avoid a return to custody.

It also found the sentencing principle was already overridden where a child was declared a serious repeat offender, and it was “unclear” how removing or amending it would change judges’ bail or sentencing decisions anyway.

But the LNP has repeatedly called for an end to detention as a last resort, and the government’s release of a 21-page “community safety plan” on Tuesday failed to silence the critics.

So, in a statement on Wednesday, Premier Steven Miles said the principle would be redrafted to “make it absolutely clear community safety must be the priority for the courts”. This, after the new premier in February insisted the “dangerous” proposal wouldn’t work and instead likely boost reoffending,

“We’ve seen a lot of misrepresentation and confusion suggesting that the courts are unable to impose detention. And I am concerned that the existing wording of the principle is undermining confidence in the laws and the courts.”

Steven Miles in Wednesday’s media release

Yet documents tabled in parliament make clear that the changes to two references to detention as a last resort are a clarification “not intended to change the law”.

Miles pushed back when asked whether the move showed a failure of the government to communicate how the principle worked. Labor reintroduced it in 2015 after its previous LNP dumping.

It’s an admission he’s been willing to make on unsuccessful efforts to sell the now-dumped Gabba rebuild. And you could argue recent polling reflected Labor’s inability to sell Miles as the party’s post-Palaszczuk election winner.

Justifying the latest change alongside Miles on Wednesday, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath was more blunt: “clearly, simply talking about it … hasn’t been enough”.

But this won’t be enough, either. Opposition leader David Crisafulli still regards the complete removal of the principle as the “centrepiece” of the LNP’s largely detail-free legal reforms to be introduced if the party wins the October election.

Repeat questions to Crisafulli and select shadow ministers gleaned little further detail about what guidance their planned rewrite of the Youth Justice Act might give to judges about the need to consider alternatives to detention, if any.

Crisafulli was unwilling to say directly if more kids would be detained under the LNP’s plan. Miles was now also unable, or unwilling, despite citing modelling not being made public.

The response from key stakeholders in the sector, who were given a brief heads-up on the changes on Tuesday night, has been one of déjà vu.

Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes characterised it as just the latest chapter in the major parties’ long-running race to a bottom “we’re pretty close to”.

“We’re not focusing on rehabilitation, we’re not focusing on getting young people onto a positive path, so we’re not protecting communities,” she said.

The government is apparently still working on a broader youth justice strategy to replace one which expired last year, said to be coming within weeks.

Crisafulli told journalists on Wednesday his “next focus” would be on early intervention after a looming audit office report into government programs lands.

With a government often unable to sell, and unwilling to stand behind evidence-based measures, and an opposition having a field day selling next to nothing in the vacuum, who knows where the race will go next.