Harsher youth justice laws that propose adult sentences for crimes will make children “sacrificial lambs”, a parliamentary committee has been told.
The Queensland government tabled controversial youth justice legislation to state parliament in late November, in the first parliamentary sitting since winning the October 26 election.
It is now under scrutiny from a parliamentary committee that received stakeholder submissions on Monday.
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The legislation will remove detention as a last resort and dramatically increase maximum sentences for serious youth crimes, delivering a key election promise from the Liberal National Party.
Children face a life sentence for five offences including murder, manslaughter and grievous bodily harm.
Juveniles as young as 10 will face the same maximum sentence as adults for 13 offences.
Selena Walters from youth group Fearless Towards Success told the public hearing that systemic failures have led to community fear, prompting the harsher laws.
“The kids are the sacrificial lamb in this,” she said.
“’I’m sure even the LNP knows that detention doesn’t work – there’s a gazillion reports that say that, but unfortunately 1.2 million people that voted for the government don’t really care because they are living in fear and people’s lives are being lost, and and I do understand that.
“It’s pretty sad situation, really.”
The government conceded when tabling the laws that it would override the state’s Human Rights Act.
It also conceded the laws would likely increase the number of children in detention centres, putting pressure on the packed facilities.
The reforms are expected to have a greater impact on Indigenous children, already disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
Queensland has the highest number of detained kids in the nation, according to a Child Death Review report released earlier in 2024, and has two new detention centres and a remand facility in the pipeline.
Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, which represents 35 community controlled organisations, said the removal of detention as a last resort should not apply to children under 14.
“We will be creating adults who are more likely to offend and this undermines the intent of the bill, which is to create a safer Queensland and it’s something that we all want,” CEO Garth Morgan said.
Youth Advocacy Centre CEO Katherine Hayes proposed significantly more funding to early intervention.
She indicated statistics pointed to a clear decline in youth offending since the 1990s.
“There are always statistics that can be cherry-picked to show that particular situations arise, but if you take a step back and look at the big picture, youth crime and youth offending is going down,” she told the hearing.
“That’s not to say that there aren’t horrific accidents occurring and horrific offences occurring, and we need to stop those.
“Making our youth justice system more punitive, including treating children as young as 10 as adults in the youth justice system, is nonsensical and contrary to all the evidence of what works to reduce youth crime.”