Rape victims forgotten in Crisafulli’s Adult Crime Adult Time law reforms

Serial juvenile car thieves could spend more time in prison than teenagers found guilty of rape in Queensland. Survivors are backing calls for the government to cover it under its ‘adult time, adult crime’ laws. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli. Picture: Supplied

Serial juvenile car thieves could spend more time in prison than teenagers found guilty of rape in a Queensland led by David Crisafulli.

Rape was one of several serious crimes left out of Mr Crisafulli’s law reforms that he campaigned on to hold teenagers accountable for adult crimes by imposing harsher sentencing penalties in line with community expectations.

Mr Crisafulli and the top brass of his Queensland Government including Attorney-General Deb Frecklington, Minister for Youth Justice and Victim Support and Minister for Corrective Services Laura Gerber have refused to promise that rape will be included in the next round of crimes added to ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’.

The launch of News Corp’s Fight For The Forgotten campaign calls on Premier Crisafulli to make a promise to Queensland women and survivors that rape will be treated just as seriously as car theft under his government and to promise that rape will be included in the next tranche of the youth justice law reforms.

Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto said rape needed to be included in the next tranche of laws to put victims first and pull legislation into line with community expectations.

“It’s a slap in the face to victims of rape,” he said.

“There is nothing worse, rape is a heinous crime that damages someone forever.

“That’s why it needs to be considered, it needs to be implemented.

Katter’s Australian Party deputy leader Nick Dametto. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

“I don’t understand why it wasn’t on the list in the first case because the reality is it’s the most heinous crime that could happen to anybody but also it is an ‘adult crime,’ as far as anyone is concerned.”

Mr Crisafulli just last week set a precedent for promises to the youth crime laws his government rushed into state government legislation months after winning the election.

Hours after a 13-year-old boy was charged with the attempted murder of an Ipswich supermarket worker, Mr Crisafulli promised he would ensure attempted murder was included in the next tranche of laws.

However, the state government’s Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber has said the inclusion of rape was not definite.

Speaking in Townsville on Tuesday, Ms Gerber reiterated that a legal panel would be considering the inclusion and exclusion of other “more complex offences”.

Laura Gerber. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

Despite Mr Crisafulli’s pledge to keep juvenile offenders accountable for “adult crimes”, chilling statistics tell a different story.

Less than half of the state’s juvenile offenders convicted of rape were sentenced to detention orders over the past decade, and rates of sexual violence have skyrocketed across the state faster than in other parts of the nation.

Mr Dametto questioned how the LNP had compiled its “Adult Crime, Adult Time” list in the first place, stating that 12 months before the release of the LNP policy the Katter Party released its own version.

“Rape was on our list,” he said.

He said the Queensland Government needed to “get this right”.

“These juveniles should not be getting a ball pass on one of the most heinous crimes that a human can commit,” he said.

If the offence of rape was deemed too complex an issue to tackle, Mr Dametto said it would be a major “cop-out”.

“This is a complex issue but the Queensland voting public has decided to change the government because they have not been impressed with how youth crime and some of Queensland’s most heinous have been treated over the past nine years,” he said.

“The warning to the LNP government would be, you’ve been given the power by the people to change this and if you don’t utilise that power they may take it off you,” Mr Dametto said.

Townsville sexual assault survivor Evie Clayton said the Queensland Government needed to “choose a clear stance” when it came to the new legislation.

Townsville rape survivor and now advocate Evie Clayton was in Brisbane meeting the Attorney-General. Picture: Liam Kidston

The advocate, who on Tuesday met with Attorney-General Deb Frecklington to discuss greater access to forensic examinations for rape and sexual assault victims, emphasised her concerns with the new laws.

“I believe that car theft and petty crime is not as severe as rape,” she said.

“If our government is fully committed to this legislation, they need to clearly explain what they consider to be an adult crime and why. Kids often steal for fun and excitement, kids who perpetuate acts of sexual violence are often victims themselves.”

The North Queensland woman has been vocal about healthcare surrounding rape and sexual assault victims since she survived a sexual assault in 2021.

Evie Clayton. Picture: Liam Kidston

She said while her views differed to that of the current governments and she didn’t support jail sentencing for kids, there needed to be no blurred lines for the new legislations they were imposing and they had to draw a line in the sand.

“Incarceration shouldn’t be the answer for any child, but I don’t make the laws,” she said.

“Our government needs to be clear on what they consider an ‘Adult Crime’ to be and if it’s stealing cars and not rape, I think they have their wires crossed.”