Bob Atkinson review of State Government’s youth bail laws “extended”
Critical information about new laws cracking down on repeat young offenders in North Queensland has been delayed, one year after Jennifer Board was killed by an alleged vigilante chasing a stolen car full of juveniles.
Townsville
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The results of a review into the state government’s youth bail laws has still not been finalised, despite starting four months ago.
On February 9 last year, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced former Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson would evaluate the newly introduced youth bail laws after six months.
The reforms, which included creating a presumption against bail and a GPS tracker trial for repeat offenders, were passed by parliament on April 30 last year.
But nine months down the line and the review isn’t ready for release.
A spokeswoman from Department of Youth Justice said the timeline had been “extended”.
“The review covers the six months following the commencement,” the statement read.
“The finalisation of the review has been extended to accommodate consultations and data collection.”
Ms Palaszczuk announced a suite of legislation changes on February 9 last year, just four days after Townsville woman Jennifer Board was killed by an alleged vigilante chasing a stolen car full of juveniles.
The law changes, as well as a new Youth Justice Taskforce were launched in a bid to make it tougher for repeat juvenile offenders to be granted bail when before the courts.
Since the laws were passed, more than 600 arrests were made on juveniles in Townsville, and just over half were kept behind bars.
Despite the results, Queensland Police crime data shows the number of property crime offences in the Townsville District has remained high, and risen sharply over the last five months.
Mr Atkinson was also appointed to review youth justice reforms in 2018 where he made 77 recommendations to improve the system and address the causes of offending.
Originally published as Bob Atkinson review of State Government’s youth bail laws “extended”
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