Guidance on upcoming youth justice legislative reforms in Queensland
Background
It is expected that the Queensland Government will introduce a Bill to legislate the ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ policy and remove the principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) in the last week of November.
The Bill may include other legislative changes proposed in the Making our Community Safer plan.
The ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ proposal is a step in the wrong direction, it will not make communities safer and is not consistent with Queensland’s human rights obligations to children, nor international best practice.
How to engage
The Premier has confirmed the Bill will be passed through Parliament before the end of this year. Based on the Parliamentary calendar, this means the Bill will pass in the second week of December 2024. Assuming submissions are invited, the timeframe to respond will be very short.
Given the tight turn-around time, QCOSS has developed this resource which includes guidance and information about the Bill so that community organisations wishing to develop a submission can start planning in advance.
We will update this page and the guide once the Bill is introduced, when further details will be available.
QCOSS will also be holding a submission consultation and discussion session once the Bill is introduced. If you work with a community service organisation and would like to attend the submission consultation session or if you would like to share any thoughts about these proposed changes in the law in the meantime, please email us ([email protected]).
We are keen to hear your views.