Submission to Integrity and Community Safety Committee in relation to the Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024 into the Queensland Parliament 2024, by Associate Professor Terry Goldsworthy

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Abstract

Introduction

This submission will deal with the issues around the proposed the Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024 into the Queensland Parliament. The bill proposes, among other things, to amend the various acts:

The Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024 will amend the Youth Justice Act 1992 to:
• introduce ‘adult crime, adult time’;
• remove the principle of detention as a last resort and that a non-custodial order is better than detention in promoting a child’s ability to reintegrate into the community;
• promote the consideration of the impacts of offending on victims in the Charter of Youth Justice Principles and when sentencing a child;
• ensure a child’s criminal history reflects their full history;
• enable a person’s child criminal history to be admitted when sentenced as an adult;
• default to an ‘opt out’ mechanism for victims on the victim information register; and
• alter the process relating to the transfer of 18-year-old detainees from youth detention centres to adult correctional centres.

The Bill will also amend the Childrens Court Act 1992 to:
• ensure the victim or a member of the victim’s family can be present during criminal proceedings; and
• enable the media to be present during criminal proceedings by omitting the ability of a court to make an exclusion order under section 20(2).
Original languageEnglish
PublisherQueensland Parliament
Number of pages13
Publication statusPublished - 2 Dec 2024

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