Juvenile crime Cairns: New police data reveals statistics on neglectful parents or guardians
New police data has exposed how many parents have been charged for not supervising their kids as pressure mounts on guardians to “take responsibility” in the fight against juvenile crime.
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NEW police data has exposed how many parents have been charged for not supervising their kids as pressure mounts on guardians to “take responsibility” in the fight against juvenile crime.
Queensland Police statistics reveal there were six arrests last year in the Far North region of people leaving a child under the age of 12 unattended “for an unreasonable amount of time” – a criminal offence that carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail.
This comes as Cairns registered a record number of car thefts and criminal activity from youth offenders in that period, some of which have been as young as 10.
The numbers also showed 19 charges have been made against parents or carers from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021 for the same offence, prompting shadow police and corrective services Minister Dale Last to question if the law should be brought into sharper focus.
“The law is in place and it begs the question, why isn’t it being enforced?” he said.
“It is clearly evident that the level of supervision provided by the parents and guardians of these recidivist juvenile offenders leaves a lot to be desired.
“Ironically, the law relating to children under 12 not being left unsupervised was introduced to ensure the safety of children, however it’s about time the parents of these juveniles started taking some responsibility and that starts with effective supervision.”
A police spokesman said any allegation of neglect was thoroughly investigated by police and each incident was judged “on its merits.”
“The level of supervision is different depending on several factors some of which may include the age of the child and what is “reasonable” in the circumstances,” he said.
Queensland Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Shannon Fentiman believed the current laws were “strong”.
“This is to ensure the safety of Queensland kids, and anyone found guilty of doing this can be sentenced to up to three years in prison,” she said.
However, Mr Last questioned whether officers had the scope to properly impose the legislation, also pointing to the Youth Justice Act he says is “more focused on the rights of the offender.”
“If there are problems with this law then the government should make the necessary amendments to enable authorities to enforce it,” he said.
“In addition, with some minor changes to existing laws such as Breach of Bail can be made an offence for juveniles with the removal of one line from the relevant section of the Bail Act.”
Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said “of course parents need to take some responsibility” but also called for a remote detention facility to be built away from the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville.
“One problem you have at the moment is there is no culpability of the parents,” he said.
“I’m not saying go and lock all these parents up, but there needs to be a mechanism to send (recidivist offenders) to a remote area where there are a range of tasks and they have to work for their supper.
“Where they can’t just go out and steal something the day they have been arrested.”
Leaving a child under 12 unattended by district (01/01/2019 to 31/12/2021)
Far North
Charges preferred
2019: 8
2020: 5
2021: 6
Persons charged:
2019: 4
2020: 5
2021: 5
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Originally published as Juvenile crime Cairns: New police data reveals statistics on neglectful parents or guardians
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