The community sector has criticised new youth justice legislation introduced by the Queensland Labor government as part of an “irresponsible” bipartisan race to the bottom.
Queensland Council of Social Service CEO Aimee McVeigh said Qcoss members were “incredibly disappointed by the irresponsible move of the premier, Steven Miles” to remove the principle of detention as a last resort for children.
“This is just our wannabe macho men having a fight over who can be the toughest, when actually what we need are some cool heads,” she said.
The government’s reforms replace the principle of detention as a last resort – an obligation under the United Nations convention on the rights of the child – with a new clause: “A child should be detained in custody … where other non-custodial measures of prevention and intervention would not be sufficient, and for no longer than necessary to meet the purpose of detention.”
At a Wednesday press conference, the premier, Steven Miles, said “the existing wording of the principle is undermining confidence in the laws and the courts”.
He repeatedly said the amendments are about “changing the law”.
“If a young person needs to be detained to keep the community safe, then they must be detained. That is what this change to the law will say,” he said.
According to the bill’s statement on compatibility with human rights: “The proposed amendments … are clarifying provisions and are not intended to change the law.
“They do not engage any human rights.”
When asked about the paragraph, Miles said “they clarify the law; they clarify what we have always said”.
The attorney general, Yvette D’Ath, said the change “was about giving the community confidence that the courts have the power”.
‘Race to the bottom on crime’
The Liberal National party accused the government of lying about removing detention as a last resort.
“The only thing that is changing is the government trying to cling to political power by conning a generation of Queenslanders, and unfortunately Queenslanders aren’t going to buy that,” the opposition leader, David Crisafulli, said.
The party plans to change the Youth Justice Act so as to allow victim impact statements to be taken into account by judges, among other amendments.
They also plan to remove any reference requiring judges to consider non-custodial options before a sentence of imprisonment.
after newsletter promotion
Queensland Human Rights Commissioner, Scott McDougall, condemned the idea that it was necessary to choose between “keeping communities safe and protecting children’s rights”.
“This false dichotomy feeds a narrative that demonises and dehumanises children,” he said.
Youth Advocacy Centre CEO, Katherine Hayes, said “both parties are purely responding to a political need” in a race to the bottom on crime.
“We’re not focusing on getting young people on to a positive path. So we’re not protecting communities,” Hayes said.
A March report by the child death review revealed Queensland locked up more children than the rest of the country. A disproportionate number of them are Indigenous.
Greens MP Michael Berkman said the government’s laws were “inherently racist” and would hurt Indigenous children.
Youth detention is “not rehabilitative” and is instead “taking low level young offenders and turning them into lifelong criminals”, he said.
The government has legal advice from Crown Law and the solicitor general showing the new legislation won’t violate the state’s Human Rights Act, but has refused to release it.
The government’s proposed changes are expected to rapidly make their way through the unicameral parliament, in the next few weeks.