Consent removed as Queensland expands GPS tracking to all young offenders

Queensland courts will gain power to fit ankle monitors on children as young as 10 under sweeping reforms removing consent requirements and expanding eligibility criteria.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said a trial had revealed a 25 per cent reduction in offending.

Ankle monitors could be fitted on youth offenders as young as 10 years old under sweeping reforms designed to reduce crime.

The state government will introduce new laws to parliament this week to expand the eligibility criteria for courts to impose ankle trackers, including lowering the age from 15 to 10 years old.

Courts can order devices for first-time offenders aged between 10 to 17, replacing the current requirement for a person to be a serious repeat offender.

The requirement for a child to consent to wear the device has been removed.

Premier David Crisafulli said trials of ankle trackers had revealed a 25 per cent reduction in offending.

“We are determined to make sure that we give police and the courts the resources to make sure that young offenders stay on the straight and narrow,” he said.

“It is an opportunity to turn a young person’s life around and have strong consequences for those that don’t.”

Since winning office in 2024, the Crisafulli government has overhauled Queensland’s youth justice laws in a bid to reduce the number of youths committing crimes.

Significant policy changes include introducing the “Adult Crime, Adult Time” legislation allowing adult sentences for serious youth crimes, removing “detention as a last resort” and creating a new offence for children who breach bail.

The LNP also introduced tougher penalties for violent recidivists and car thieves, stronger knife crime laws and allowed older teens to be transferred to adult prisons.

Following the GPS announcement, Mr Crisafulli on Wednesday dismissed questions about the physical imposition of ankle devices on young children, suggesting that compliance with the law negates the issue.

Some of the new ankle monitoring bracelets. Picture Queensland Government

“I’m sure it’s uncomfortable and a little embarrassing but there is an easy solution for that, don’t offend,” he said.

Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber said before a device could be fitted courts must ensure offenders had access to bail support services.

“Bail support services include the youth co-responder team, to ensure that youth comply with the conditions of (wearing) the device, and if they breach them, breach of bail is an offence,“ she said.

Police Minister Dan Purdie also revealed the first 2500 of 6500 Taser 10 units, as part of a $47m investment, had been rolled out.

“Queensland is the only jurisdiction outside the United States where every frontline police officer will have access to this state of the art tech at their hips,” he said.

The devices feature a 10-shot cartridge and an effective range of 10 to 13 metres, a substantial increase from the two-to-five-metre range of existing police tasers.

“Training is scheduled to commence in January, with the objective of ensuring every frontline officer on duty has access to the technology by the end of 2026,” Deputy Commissioner Mark Kelly said.

Ms Gerber said the laws would give the courts more power to decide which young offender should be monitored.

“It removes Labor’s legislative limitations that hamstrung the courts and that only a small cohort of youth offenders were able to be electronically monitored,” she said.

The Labor Opposition said it would consider the Bill.

Queensland Police Service fit the GPS tracker and, along with Queensland Corrective Services, monitor the compliance.

Originally published as Consent removed as Queensland expands GPS tracking to all young offenders