Tough juvenile justice reforms set to pass Queensland parliament

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Queensland parliament is this afternoon expected to pass tough new youth justice laws. They were promised by the LNP during the October state election. Across more than a dozen serious crimes, young offenders will be sentenced as adults.

Transcript

00:00The LNP government is cracking down on youth crime.

00:05Here's what its legislation means.

00:08It's called the Making Queensland Safer Bill and includes the adult crime, adult time policy.

00:15First and foremost, it starts with consequences for actions.

00:18So if a juvenile commits any of these offences, they would get the same penalty an adult would.

00:24For something like murder, that means life in prison with a non-parole period of 20 years.

00:30The laws scrap the principle of detention as a last resort, and courts will be able

00:35to consider an offender's full criminal history when sentencing.

00:39To send a message to those hardcore repeat offenders that the days of terrorising Queensland are over.

00:46While there's plenty of support for a tougher approach.

00:49There are certain individuals in our community who should not be walking amongst us.

00:54There's also plenty of concern.

00:56Punitive responses to youth crime will not make the community safer.

01:02It will harm some of the most disadvantaged children in our community.

01:06The government acknowledges that its laws override the human rights of children, but

01:11argues the youth crime situation in Queensland is exceptional.

01:16The state is in the middle of a youth crime crisis and we have to do something about it.

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