New statistics reveal over 50,000 youth crime incidents in the state of Queensland so far in 2024.
The police data shows the South Brisbane region—not the suburb—was most heavily impacted, recording 7,592 offences by juvenile offenders, 39 of which were from “serious repeat youth offenders.”
Townsville, also in Queensland’s north, logged 4,175 offences, while Queensland’s Far North listed 6,829 offences by youths. In terms of the highest rate of repeat offending, Far North Queensland noted 78 individuals, with Townsville coming in second with 68.
LNP Justifies Tougher Crime Laws
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the data confirmed the state’s need for the Liberal National Party government’s Making Queensland Safer laws.The laws were a key pillar of his election campaign this year, and will introduce stiffer sentences for serious crimes and remove detention as a last resort for youths.
“The Making Queensland Safer laws are the first strike back to restore safety where you live, wherever you live in Queensland,” Premier Crisafulli said.
Minister for Police Dan Purdie said the incoming laws would help crack down on serious repeat offenders.
“The residents living in these areas have been let down for too long under the former [Labor] government who allowed serious repeat youth offenders to avoid adequate punishment and let them continue to terrorise these communities,” he said.
“Our Making Queensland Safer laws will see an end to police officers trying to do their jobs with one hand tied behind their backs.”
Other regions that recorded high rates of youth crime were Capricornia with 2,312 instances, Mackay and Whitsunday region with 1,035, and Moreton with 2,860.
Sunshine Coast registered 2,473 offences, while Wide Bay Burnett had 1,790.
The mining town of Mount Isa reported 1,747 cases of youth crime, while Ipswich in Brisbane’s west had 2,020.
Committee Backs Law
The Queensland Parliament’s Justice and Community Safety Committee affirmed its support for the laws on Dec. 6, after handing down its report last week after scrutinising the bill in five days.The Committee did find the bill, which could jail serious young offenders for life, did breach the state’s Human Rights Act, but that this was justifiable.
“Some Committee members raised concerns regarding the extent of the impact on the rights of children,” the report said.
“However, the committee considers the incompatibility is justified in the circumstances.”
The Labor opposition will back the law.
Laws Divide Opinion
U.N. representatives have criticised the bill, as well as youth advocates.“Locking up children for longer is never going to work as it does not give any healing to the victims and children are the victims,” said Sisters Inside’s Debbie Kilroy.
“This is just fuelling our love affair with caging children.”
While Ann Skelton, chair of the U.N.’s Committee of the Rights of a Child, said the group did not agree that “so-called ‘exceptional circumstances’” warranted a “flagrant disregard for children’s rights under international law.”
“We urge the government of Queensland to stand firm with the principle that children should be treated differently from adults in the criminal justice system.”
However, a victim of youth crime, Ben Cannon, backed tougher punishments.
Cannon came to the aid of his neighbour during a violent home invasion by four teenagers in 2021, while managing to hold down one of the perpetrators of the attack that left family members seriously injured.
“One of the hardest things for me as a victim was to see a young person the same age as my son being so horrifically violent and horrible to another human,” he said.
“I still question how is it the best choice that person has in life to be in my neighbour’s house at 2 a.m. trying to stab half a dozen people?
“That still haunts me.”
