New crime stats pledge amid furore over ‘broken promise’

The state government will release youth reoffender and detention data more regularly after The Courier-Mail queried its pledge of a year ago.

• Editor’s view: Coincidence or not?

The state government will release youth reoffender and detention data from Monday, after The Courier-Mail queried why it had failed to follow through on a pledge from a year ago.

In February 2023 the government, under then premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, committed to publish data every six months on how Queensland was performing on three youth crime performance indicators.

Following The Courier-Mail’s Enough is Enough campaign, Ms Palaszczuk pledged to release the reoffending rates among juveniles who had contact with the justice system, the proportion of Indigenous children in detention and the percentage number of serious repeat offenders.

Minister for Child Safety Di Farmer and Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Evan Morgan

One year on, only the number of Indigenous children in detention data has been published.

Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer, responding to questions from The Courier-Mail, revealed data would be released quarterly with the first tranche released on Monday.

“When I became Youth Justice Minister in 2023, I committed to ensuring there was transparency around key performance indicators within the Youth Justice Department,” she said.

“The initial commitment was to do so every six months. We are now moving to a quarterly data release model.”

The latest figures, released on Monday, reveals the proportion of serious repeat offenders, out of all young people with a finalised offence, was 1.6 per cent in the 12 months to December 31.

Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer

Ms Farmer said data for the first quarter of 2024 would be published in late May.

“Queenslanders deserve to know the facts, and I want that information to be available to them,” she said.

The Enough is Enough campaign called for a reduction in the percentage of juveniles between the ages of 10 and 16 who reoffend – from 56.8 per cent to under the national average of 50.9 per cent.

Those statistics are released annually and not according to the government’s commitment, however, it is understood Ms Farmer is considering adding it to the quarterly release.

The government has released the rate of young people aged 10 to 17 years who have contact with Youth Justice, per 10,000 population, however, the LNP noted this was not the reoffender rate data committed to by the government.

Opposition youth justice spokeswoman Laura Gerber argued the government had broken its promise to be more transparent about data.

Logan Crime Reduction Unit target youth offenders in property crime blitz Picture Queensland Police

“Reoffending rates are on the rise, serious repeat offenders have climbed to 20 per cent, all while Labor is keeping the numbers secret,” she said.

“Enough is enough, youth justice statistics must be laid bare for all to see, because Queenslanders deserve the truth.

“Queensland is in the grip of a youth crime crisis because of falling police numbers, weaker laws and Labor’s constant state of chaos and crisis.”

Originally published as New crime stats pledge amid furore over ‘broken promise’