QNADA’s member services work at the intersection of multiple different systems and provide support to young people and their families who are in contact with, or are at risk of having contact with, the youth justice system. This makes us uniquely positioned to comment on the proposed amendments, which are:
- contradictory to what we know works when responding to youth crime;
- out of step with other Australian jurisdictions; and
- inconsistent with recent commitments by the Queensland Government to reduce demand within the criminal justice system, address the overrepresentation of First Nations people within the youth justice and criminal justice systems and achieve health equity by 2030.
For these reasons, QNADA does not support this Bill, including the supposition that its incompatibility with the Human Rights Act 2019 and international standards is justified ‘to respond to the small cohort of serious repeat young offenders who engage in persistent and serious offending, in particular, offending which occurs while on bail.’ The amendments will have significant implications for all young people on bail and, as with other strategies that aim to increase police presence and enforcement, will only serve to increase the number of young people detected, arrested and incarcerated in Queensland.
Please read the full submission here.