End of “The Untouchables” — David Crisafulli’s Divisive New Policy to Crack Down on Youth Crime Passes Queensland Parliament

“The generation of untouchables must end” were the words David Crisafulli said when he unveiled his “Adult Crime, Adult Time” youth crime policy as part of the LNP’s Making Queensland Safer Laws at the 2024 LNP Convention in July. With the promise that if elected in October there will be less victims of crime in Queensland by Christmas.

David Crisafulli at the LNP Convention in July (Image Credit: Russell Freeman/AP)

When Premier David Crisafulli revealed this plan to crackdown on Youth Crime it was deemed nothing more than a four word slogan by former Premier Steven Miles. However, it is undeniable that this policy proposal did resonate with Queenslanders and eventually won Crisafulli the election, now in the first sitting week of the 58th Parliament the Making Queensland Safer Laws — and subsequently Adult Crime, Adult Time have been tabled in Parliament, facing major backlash from various community groups that work within the Youth Justice Sector.

It was clear that from the get go Youth Crime would be a major talking point from the LNP in the 2024 QLD State Election and arguably is what won Crisafulli the election (Image Credit: The Australian)

To say that this policy has been divisive would be an understatement, many have argued that this is merely another work around rather than tackling the foundational issues — such as domestic and family violence, drug and alchohol abuse as well as housing instability, all of which have been proven to be major factors contributing to at-risk youth entering the justice system.

Many are concerned that this policy will adversely target an already very at risk group in Queenslands Justice System, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth. According to the Australian Institute of Health And Welfare Queensland already holds the highest youth incarceration rate before this new policy was even put across the parliamentary bench.

With Indigenous Youth Incarceration finding its way back into political discourse amid the age of criminal responsibility being lowered from 12 to 10 in the Northern Territory, it is safe to say many are concerned with what the impact this new policy will have on Indigenous Youth in Queensland where the age of criminal responsibility is also 10, though there have been many calls from advocacy groups such as Raise The Age to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14.

Raise the Age is an Australian Based Organisation fighting to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years old (Image Credit: Raise the Age)

With the promise that the Making Queensland Safer Laws would be implemented by Christmas looming over the LNP’s heads Crisafulli’s team got to work and on the first sitting day of the 58th parliament introduced the controversial bill to the chamber.

So what exactly is outlined in this new bill and why is it so controversial? Advertised as the new hardline approach to tackle youth crime the passing of the Making Queensland Safer Laws means that the Youth Justice Act (1992) would be ammended so that juveniles face the same penalties as adults if they commit crimes such as murder, manslaughter, robberies and the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Under these new laws detention as a last resort would also be removed, as well as implementing measures to open up of the Childrens court to the media and victims and allowing the courts to consider the offenders full criminal history.

The Bills introduction led to many community groups and youth advocacy organisations to voice their concerns on the stairs of Queensland Parliament, calling for the Government to listen to the evidence, rather than ram a bill through parliament which will do more harm than good.

Garth Morgan is the CEO of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) and is one of many who believes this laws will not have the desired effect the LNP is promising. (Image Credit: Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak)

Garth Morgan is the CEO of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP). It is the peak body representing, advocating for and supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child protection and family support services sector in Queensland.

He says the Premier should not be surprised that as an organisation they have concerns about this bill, they accept that it will be implemented by Christmas but still don’t believe this new legislation will be effective.

“We [QATSICPP] don’t agree that these laws will be effective in creating a safer community, to create a safer community you need to focus on early intervention, prevention and address the root causes of offending.”

Natalie Lewis is a proud Gamilaraay woman and Comissioner of the Queensland Family and Child Comission she says this legislation goes against every commitment made in “closing the gap” regarding lowering the Indigenous Incarceration Rate in Australia. (Image Credit: Queensland Family and Child Comission)

This legislation has been criticised of going against every commitment made in “closing the gap” in regards to lowering the Indigenous Incarceration Rate in Australia.

Natalie Lewis is a proud Gamilaraay woman and is the Comissioner of the Queensland Family and Child Comission. She told the media she is critical of the proposed legislation and argues that Queensland will now fail in fulfilling promises outlined in closing the gap.

“The bill is clearly focused on the incarceration of children. Queensland already incarcerates more children than any other jurisdiction… And doubling down on that approach will erode community safety, not enhance it… These amendments are at odds with and in direct defiance of the commitments made under Closing the Gap to reduce the incarceration of Aboriginal children. ”

Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall believes these laws will be tough on at risk kids rather than tough on crime as they do not target the root causes of crime. (Image Credit: Queensland Human Rights Commission)

Queenslands Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall acknowledges that Governments do have a role in keeping communities safe but argues that removing the rights of children will actually have the opposite effect, and calls on the Government to listen to the evidence rather than ramming this legislation through parliament, Controversially due to the Crisafulli Government calling the bill urgent the review time for this bill has been cut down from six weeks to one.

“There is absolutely no evidence that removing the rights of children will keep the community safer or protect the rights of victims. In fact, all the evidence shows that jailing children as young as 10 makes the community less safe.”

The Commitee Hearings for the Making Queensland Safer Bill were held at Queensland Parliament last week leading to quite emotional testimonials from both ends of the debate (Image Credit: Queensland Parliament)

The Commitee Hearings held by the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee was held at Queensland Parliament last week, it is safe to say it was emotional experience on both ends of the debate. The Committee recieved 176 submissions. These submissions include entries from Victims of Crime, Youth and Child Advocates, the Queensland and Australian Humans Rights Commissions, the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak, Sisters Inside and the Institute of Public Affairs.

The key message clear from these submissions is that the changes made through this bill will make Queensland an outlier among other Australian States in regards to tackling youth crime. It was also highlighted that socioeconomic factors play a big role and that what has been called a “band-aid” solution will not truly address these key issues.

The passing of the Making Queensland Safer Laws has gained international headlines and garnered criticism from Human Rights Organisations with organisations such as Amnesty saying that this policy “flies in the face of all the evidence” (Image Credit: Amnesty Australia).

On the 12th of December, 2024 the Making Queensland Safer Laws passed Queensland Parliament with the support of the LNP, Katters and Labor, and it is expected that this legislation will be implemented as early as next week. David Crisafulli was contacted for comment in regards to this bill and the impact it will have specifically on Indigenous Incarceration during the production of this story, and as of today there has still been no reply.