Queensland government to remove 'detention as a last resort' from its youth justice principles

Premier Steven Miles says the change will allow courts to keep the community safe.  ()

The Queensland government has changed its stance on locking up child offenders and will remove a “detention as a last resort” clause.

After a Labor caucus meeting last night, the government decided it would replace the principle with a new clause.

It states, “a child should be detained in custody, where necessary, including to ensure community safety, 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”.

The decision comes a day after the government announced its new Community Safety Plan, which will be introduced to parliament today.

That plan includes expanding a trial which gives police powers to randomly stop people to search for knives and other weapons, as well as increasing the penalty for unlawfully holding a knife in public.

Premier Steven Miles said the change is to make clear to the public that community safety is the most important role of the courts.

“We’ve seen a lot of misrepresentation and confusion suggesting that the courts are unable to impose detention,” he said in a statement.

“I am concerned that the existing wording of the principle is undermining confidence in the laws and the courts.

“While prevention and intervention are essential, there are cases where detention is necessary for community safety. “

Speaking this morning, the Premier said this was in line community sentiment.

“The community rightly expects that if a young person is a risk to community safety that they will be detained and we will deliver to them the kinds of rehabilitation programs that can only be intensively delivered in detention,” he said.

‘It doesn’t work’

Tom Allsop, CEO of the child protection body PeakCare Queensland, said the move will do little to change the crime landscape in Queensland.

“It’s really just a redrafting of words that have the same affect,” he told ABC Radio Brisbane.

“How judges and magistrates will be sentencing young people will be the same as they’ve always done.”

Mr Allsop said Queensland has no issue locking up young people.

“We lead the nation in sentencing and detaining young people — that’s the problem we have, it just doesn’t work,” he said.

He said he met with the Premier last night to look through the Community Safety Plan.

“One of the things that I put through very strongly, and I’ve seen that in what victims have been saying, is that this is a plan that is 36 pages, predominantly of photos of police, with big investment into police services, but no investment in the early intervention and prevention that’s going to stop crime occurring,” he said.

“What we see through all these changes this week is a greater, tougher response to crime as it occurs, with no real focus on turning the tide on crime.

“When I look at the Community Safety Plan, I see a plan for the Queensland Police Service, not a plan for Queensland.”

The Premier does not agree when asked about prevention measure.

“We have incredible investments into successful programs that are intervening early and preventing crimes before they occur,” he said.