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Queensland children who commit crimes while on bail will be subject to mandatory imprisonment under an extension of the Crisafulli government’s Adult Time, Adult Crime laws, to be introduced by the end of the year.
The new laws – dubbed ‘Breach Bail, Go to Jail’ as part of a new rhyming slogan – were announced by Premier David Crisafulli in a keynote speech at the LNP Constitutional State Convention in Brisbane on Sunday.
“The next phase of Adult Crime, Adult Time will expand the laws against reckless and recidivist young offenders,” Crisafulli told the crowd.
“If you breach bail, you will go to jail.”
Under the proposed laws, if children have been charged for an offence listed under the government’s Adult Crime, Adult Time laws, and they breach bail conditions, they will be subject to a minimum mandatory sentence.
“Two years ago … we delivered tough new laws to rebalance the scales and restore consequences for actions, prioritise the rights of victims over the rights of young offenders, all while delivering more early intervention [and] better rehabilitation to break the cycle of youth crime,” Crisafulli said.
“[These laws] should act as a deterrent.”
Queensland locks up the most number of children in Australia, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children accounting for about 70 per cent of all young people in custody on an average day.
More than half of Queensland’s young offenders have experienced or been impacted by family and domestic violence, about 45 per cent have a mental health or behavioural disorder and 30 per cent are living in unstable or unsuitable accommodation.
Youth Advocacy Centre chief executive Katherine Hayes said Queensland already has some of the harshest youth bail laws in Australia, which have contributed to locking up more children than anywhere else in Australia.
“When children are in Queensland’s detention centres and watchhouses, they do not have access to the rehabilitation needed to break the cycle of offending,” Hayes said.
“The detention centres have ongoing staffing issues which lead to the overuse of lockdowns and solitary confinement.
“All of this causes children to leave detention traumatised and angry and more likely to commit crimes, as shown by Queensland’s high rate of recidivism.”
The Crisafulli government’s Adult Time, Adult Crime laws have been broadly criticised by experts and advocates since their introduction in late 2024, and the youth justice system has faced scrutiny for overcrowding and unsafe conditions in detention centres, staffing issues, and the improper management of early intervention and rehabilitation services in recent months.
Crisafulli did not address issues shrouding the sector in his keynote, but praised individual ministers for their role in driving new policies since taking government.
He also sought to redirect the party’s centre-right position amid growing national support for far-right party One Nation.
“I’m just not going to be drawn into the ideological battles of Canberra, left or right, we’ve shown we will govern as a centre-right government, where we see things which are harmful, nonsensical, we reform them, and we move on,” Crisafulli said.
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