Townsville Bulletin attends closed children’s court under new laws

The Townsville Bulletin’s first attempt to access and report on the children’s magistrate court under new laws was halted by a lawyer applying to exclude media. Read what happened.

The Townsville courthouse, located on Walker Street in the CBD.

The Townsville Bulletin’s first attempt to access the Magistrate children’s court under new laws was halted by a lawyer applying to exclude media.

The media exclusion application took up 20 minutes of the court’s time, and required the magistrate to hear submissions from the lawyer, the police prosecutor and the journalist in court.

Duty lawyer Miriam Grundy argued coverage of her 16-year-old client was not appropriate given his crime was not of public interest because it was nonviolent and happened inside Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

Ms Grundy also said her client was a vulnerable child as he was in state care.

Townsville magistrate Viviana Keegan chose to allow the journalist to remain in the courtroom, pointing to the reasons why the law was amended in the recent Queensland Community Safety Bill 2024.

Generic photo, Townsville Court House. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“I of course have to consider the objectives of the bill, which is not only to enhance community safety but to address key issues affecting public security,” Magistrate Keegan said.

“Community concerns have included: the lack of knowledge of the youth justice system, and the fact that this jurisdiction has occurred in closed court. That has specifically led to these amendments.”

The Queensland Community Safety Bill 2024 was passed by the Queensland Parliament on August 22, came into law on August 30, and was issued on September 3 – Tuesday.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles in Parliament House. Picture: Dan Peled / NewsWire

The new bill means accredited media and a victim of crime, or a relative of a victim, are allowed to freely attend the Magistrates Children’s Court.

Previously, accredited media were only allowed to attend an individual child’s matter if they’d applied for access and been approved by the courthouse.

The Townsville Courthouse on Walker Street, in the CBD.

No such restrictions applied to the district children’s court, which media can attend at liberty.

Media are not allowed to identify youth offenders under any circumstance.

Ultimately, the 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to wilful damage.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Peter Obermayer said a youth worker observed him damaging a light fixture inside a unit in the detention centre.

“He broke the light fixture, the repair cost is approximately up to $2000 to fix,” Sgt. Obermayer said.

Ms Grundy said the boy regrets causing the damage, as it meant he lost his ‘gold status’ inside the detention centre and spent two days in lockdown.

The boy was sentenced to a restorative justice order where he will meet with the victim of the crime (the correctional service) and take actions to ‘repair the harm caused’.

It took five minutes for the boy to plead guilty and be sentenced.

Originally published as Townsville Bulletin attends closed children’s court under new laws