Queensland government to remove 'detention as a last resort' from its youth justice principles
Youth advocacy groups have labelled the Queensland government's decision to replace the clause of "detention as a last resort" in youth justice laws "a desperate grasp for power".
The government announced it would replace the principle with a new clause after a Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday night.
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 as part of the government's new community safety plan, which was introduced to parliament on Wednesday.
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.
Queensland Council of Social Services (QCOSS) chief executive Aimee McVeigh said the sector was "incredibly disappointed".
"We know that detaining children in these types of circumstances leads to them committing further crime in the future," she said.
She said more than half of the children in the youth justice system were victims of domestic violence.
"We have an epidemic of violence against women in this country. Our focus, our spotlight, should not be on children, it should be on men committing violent crimes," Ms McVeigh said.
"Really this is wannabe macho men having a fight over who can be the toughest, when actually what we need are some cool heads.
"This is just a political manoeuvre and a desperate grasp for power."
Aimee McVeigh says the change is politically driven. (ABC News: Rachel Riga)
Community safety behind change, premier says
Premier Steven Miles said the change was made to show the public that community safety was the most important role of the courts.
Dozens of protesters took to the streets of Brisbane yesterday, ending with a conversation with the premier. (ABC News: Jemima Burt)
"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.
"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."
'Doesn't go far enough'
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said there would not be any change to community safety because the Labor government was not proposing to completely remove the principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act.
"Today the government is seeking to convince Queenslanders that they are removing detention as a last resort, they are not," he said.
"That is political, it is sneaky, it is underhanded – quite frankly it is not truthful and it has to be called out.
"Victims need to know the games being played at the moment in this parliament by the government.
"Changing words will not change the law."
The Liberal National Party has committed to remove detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act if it wins government at the October state election.
Katherine Hayes from the Youth Advocacy Centre said if "detention as a last resort" was removed from the Youth Justice Act, Queensland would "not [be] meeting its obligations under international laws", breaching the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child.
"Morally, Queenslanders should be disappointed."
Katherine Hayes says the government is now in breach of international law. (ABC News: Chris Gillette)
She said the fact there were 80 children in adult watch houses across the state on Tuesday night was proof the system was already "overwhelmed".
"We're not focusing on rehabilitation, we're not focusing on getting young people on a positive path, so we're not protecting community," she said.
"When the government talks about early intervention, they mean arresting kids early."
However, Mr Miles said that there had been "incredible investments" in early intervention programs.
Victims welcome the announcement
Tom Allsop, chief executive of the child protection body PeakCare Queensland, doubted how efficient the redrafting would be.
"How judges and magistrates will be sentencing young people will be the same as they've always done," he said.
Tom Allsop says the plan does not change how children will be sentenced. (Supplied)
Trudy Reading, from the Voice for Victims group, said it would be up to judges to implement the law.
"It's all about the expectations that are set upon the judges, for them to deliver on that, and for the government to set that standard," she said.
Trudy Reading says judges will make the final call on whether the change has an affect.
She said victims of crime also wanted rehabilitation programs.
"You've got to remember that detention doesn't necessarily mean just in a jail," Ms Reading said.
"Cell detention needs to be a holistic approach, taking these kids out of the community and out of the environments that are causing them to offend in the first place.
"We want to know what else they have planned other than just a change in the laws.
"Have they got facilities? Because as far as we know, they don't have facilities available to put these people in, if they do start to enact this law straightaway."