Youth crime Qld: Crisis escalates, as new figures show key metrics getting worse
Key metrics that experts said would lead to a reduction in youth crime are actually getting worse, despite the state government’s pledge to crack down on the scourge, new figures show.
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New figures have exposed how the key metrics experts said would lead to a reduction in youth crime are actually getting worse, despite the state government’s pledge to crack down on the scourge.
Six months after Queensland’s five daily newspapers demanded the state track and publish the rate of youth reoffending, Indigenous young people in detention, and the proportion of serious repeat offenders the data has been quietly uploaded to a government website.
The Courier-Mail can reveal under the new laws introduced in March – declaring certain offenders as “serious repeat offenders” meaning tougher sentencing principles to protect community safety – 27 kids across Queensland now fall into that category.
There have also been 42 young people charged in the past six months after boasting about their crimes on social media.
But shockingly the metrics reveal more First Nations kids are locked up now than 12 months ago – with more than 45 in detention every day, compared with less than two non-indigenous young people.
The rate of Indigenous kids aged 10-17 who have contact with Youth Justice has also climbed from 415 per 10,000 to 419 per 10,000 in 2022-23 – more than 11 times the rate of non-Indigenous kids.
The youth justice department’s own targets also indicate they expect the problem to continue to get worse, with the 2023-24 “target/estimate” numbers even higher.
Queensland’s reoffending rate is up 3 per cent, sitting at 69 per cent – meaning seven out of 10 young offenders have another charged offence or are referred by police to a restorative justice conference within 12 months of an “initial finalisation for a proven offence”.
The state already had the highest youth recidivism rate of any other state or territory in the nation – with a Productivity Report released in January showing more than 56 per cent of youth offenders released from supervision were re-sentenced for new offences within 12 months.
The latest result puts Queensland further from Australia’s national average published in January, which sits at just over 50 per cent.
The demand from experts for the government to track the key metrics as part of the Enough is Enough campaign in February came as the state government faced significant pressure to tackle the spiralling youth crime crisis in the wake of several tragic incidents.
That same month Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk introduced her “10-point-plan”, which included returning breach of bail, the strengthening of conditional release orders and more than $100m for additional youth programs.
Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer – who was sworn back into the portfolio during the Premier’s reshuffle in May after previous Minister Leanne Linard was dumped – told The Courier- Mail there was “no quick solution” to tackling Queensland’s youth justice crisis.
“We make no apologies for holding serious repeat offenders to account and putting measures in place to tackle the complex causes of crime,” she said.
“Programs are continually evaluated and we constantly engage with experts because this is not an area where we can ever rest.”
Ms Farmer said programs which were “back by investment” offered the best chance of breaking the damaging cycle of crime some young criminals find themselves.
“The government has already announced plans to invest in two new youth detention centres which will be purpose-built to have an even stronger focus on rehabilitation and diversion.”
Police Minister Mark Ryan claimed the introduction of high visibility patrols had seen “noticeable reductions in crime”, and that the state flying squad had been “successfully targeting young offenders”.
“Police do a terrific job in working with young people to stop crime before it happens and making sure those who do commit crime can be brought before the courts to face the consequences of their actions,” he said.
Originally published as Youth crime Qld: Crisis escalates, as new figures show key metrics getting worse
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