Fast Track Sentencing pilot program a success: Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath

The state government says a program designed to speed up the youth justice process is having success. Here’s why.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The state government is claiming initial success with a youth-justice program being piloted in four Queensland courts, including Townsville.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath says the $16.5m Fast Track Sentencing pilot, which was introduced in March 2023 to identify the causes of delays in court cases involving young offenders, was making the process more efficient.

It aims to streamlining the court process, allowing justice to be served and offenders to begin rehabilitation quicker.

The program is running in Townsville, Cairns, Brisbane and Southport.

“Preliminary data shows it is having success, with nearly an extra 2000 cases being finalised in the first 13 months,” she said.

“This means young offenders are spending less time on remand, and are instead able to serve their sentences and receive the support they need to break their cycle of offending sooner.”

Each pilot location has its own working group comprised of people involved in each child’s case, namely prosecutors, legal representatives, court liaison officers, court co-ordinators and mental-health clinicians.

The pilot includes representatives from the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Queensland Police Service, Department of Youth Justice, Department of Child Safety, Department of Education, Queensland Health, Legal Aid Queensland and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service.

Ms D’Ath said the government was committed to ensuring that Queenslanders were safe.

“There is no silver bullet for addressing youth crime, however we know that when it comes to young people in particular, early intervention and diversion is critical,” she said.

“This is one of the crucial pillars of the Miles Labor Government’s $1.28bn investment in the evidence-based Community Safety Plan, which was released in April.”

She said the sentencing pilot was a key component of the plan.

Each pilot location has its own working group comprised of people involved in each child’s case, namely prosecutors, legal representatives, court liaison officers, court co-ordinators and mental-health clinicians.

They meet fortnightly to discuss ways of enhancing operations.

Ms D’Ath said the University of Queensland had been engaged to lead an independent evaluation of the pilot’s success.

“This is expected to get underway shortly,” she said.

Originally published as Fast Track Sentencing pilot program a success: Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath