Qld government’s second tranche of youth crime reforms due this year after alleged Cairns rape at knifepoint

The Queensland government can’t promise when exactly it will introduce new reforms to youth crime legislation, after a vile alleged rape of a woman at knifepoint highlighted issues with the laws.

The LNP government has refused to lay out exactly when the next tranche of Adult Crime, Adult Time reforms will be introduced, as the case to strengthen rape laws for youth offenders mounts following a sickening North Queensland home invasion.

Legal advocates and minor parties have renewed calls for rape and aggravated sexual assault to be included in the next round of the government’s Making Queensland Safer laws.

It comes after three teenagers were charged over allegedly raping a woman at knifepoint on Friday in the Cairns suburb of Manunda — sparking outrage across Queensland.

The trio, aged 15 and 16, faces a litany of charges, including rape, armed robbery, deprivation of liberty, enter dwelling and commit, and enter dwelling with intent by break at night while armed in company.

No pleas have been entered.

Cairns police have charged three teenage boys in relation to a break and enter and rape at knife point of a woman in Manunda in the early hours of Friday, February 21. There was no one at home at the Barlow St property on Saturday but friends of the victim were observed entering the home and picking up items. Picture: Peter Carruthers

The Fight for the Forgotten campaign, launched in January, has highlighted major loopholes and gaps in the Youth Justice Act as well as offences missing from the first tranche of laws the state government rushed through before Christmas.

Brisbane, 12 February 2025. Queensland Minister for Youth Justice Laura Gerber during a press conference in Brisbane. Picture: Supplied

Polling of 500 Queensland women, delivered through the campaign, found 99 per cent wanted rape treated as an adult offence for youth offenders.

Premier David Crisafulli has repeatedly declined to make a commitment to ensure rape will be added to Adult Crime, Adult Time laws despite strong public belief that it should be.

On the weekend, Mr Crisafulli, again, declined to comment.

Questions were instead handed to Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber, who said the second tranche would be delivered some time “this year”.

“Unravelling a decade of Labor’s weak laws is a process, which is why we were clear these offences would be considered as part of the next tranche of Adult Crime, Adult Time laws, on the recommendation of the Expert Legal Panel,” she said in a statement.

“The Crisafulli Government is committed to strengthening our youth crime laws, and we will continue delivering the reforms needed to ensure there are fewer victims of crime.”

Katter’s Australia Party MP Nick Dametto, who has been a staunch advocate for the strengthening of rape laws in Queensland, said the government hadn’t responded fast enough to appeals from victims for legal reform.

“During the parliamentary debate of the Making Queensland Safer Bill, I raised the fact that rape was absent from the list of offences,” he said.

“The KAP’s policy position is that all violent offences that carry a potential maximum penalty of life imprisonment should be captured by adult crime adult time legislation.

“I would like to see the government move quickly to amend the Youth Justice Act to include the most heinous of crimes in the adult crime adult time legislation.”

Nick Dametto, KAP MP.

Experts: Cairns incident highlights gaps in legislation

Academics have suggested the horrific incident in Cairns has highlighted gaps in current legislation around rape the newly formed Expert Legal Panel can address.

Under the updated version of the Youth Justice Act, the teenagers could face maximum imprisonment penalties if the allegations are proven, due to the presence of armed robbery charges — which were addressed by the first round of the Making Queenslander Safer laws.

Section 176 of the act also gives judges discretion to impose life sentences if the “court considers the offence to be particularly heinous”.

However, nothing in the current legislation imposes a maximum sentence for rape in and of itself, a fact highlight by a recent Toowoomba case where a 16-year-old boy was imprisoned for just three years for the predatory rape of a hospitality worker in 2023.

Professor Andrew Hemming.

University of Southern Queensland Associate Law Professor Andrew Hemming said the new panel offered the chance to tighten up judicial discretion.

“One of the problems is with the discretion around the word ‘heinous’, which I’ve criticised before,” he said.

“Irrespective of whether an offence is heinous or not, the question is what will the judge do with that?

“I’m hoping the (panel) will take away some of that discretion.

“They’ve now set up (this panel) to comb through the youth justice act, and I would expect rape to be included (in the second tranche) especially rape where there is aggravated circumstances.”

Pushback from the government over changes to rape laws relate to concerns it could capture cases where consent was the central issue.

But Prof Hemming said the laws could be written to explicitly punish aggravated sexual assault, pointing to the definitions in Queensland’s criminal code around consent.

“(The Cairns) case strengthens the argument that rape should be included in Adult Time, Adult Crime,” Prof Hemming said.

“Where you’re (allegedly) being held at knifepoint, there’s no argument about consent and whether it was given or not.

“Where you’ve got rape with circumstances of aggravation, that is a ‘lay down misere’ (unbeatable move) in my mind (to include it as a change to the legislation),” Prof Hemming said.

“When the panel gathers around, they’re looking at the entire Youth Justice Act — it’s carte blanche, they can start from scratch.”