The Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (Qld) ('YJOLA Act') passed the Queensland Assembly on 22 April 2021 and received assent on 30 April 2021. It amends the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) (‘PSA’), the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld) (‘PPR’), and the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) (‘YJA’). The Act forms part of two long-term policy frameworks: the ‘Four Pillars’ of the Working Together Changing the Story: Youth Justice Strategy 2019-2023 and the complementary Five Point Action Plan released in March 2020.
According to the explanatory notes for the Act, it aims to reduce recidivism among the 10% of youth offenders who account for 48% of all youth crime by responding to the characteristics of ‘serious recidivist youth offenders’ and strengthening the youth justice bail framework. In addition to this, the Act reforms offences relating to knife crime and hooning.
Reforms to youth justice bail framework
The Act provides for a trial of electronic monitoring devices to be used as a condition of bail for some indictable offences (PSA, s 52AA). The Act allows a court or police officer to consider when granting bail whether a parent, guardian or other person has agreed to support the young person in complying with their bail conditions and advise of any breaches of bail conditions (PSA s 48AA(4(a)(va))). The Act also provides for a lack of accommodation and/or family support to be taken into account (PSA s 48AA(7(7))). The Act creates a presumption against bail for prescribed indictable offences where the accused young person must ‘show cause’ why bail should be granted (PSA s 48AA(1(d))).
Reforms to sentencing
The Act codifies the common law principle that the fact that a second offence is committed while subject to bail for a first offence is an aggravating factor in sentencing for the second offence (YJA s 150(1(g))).
Reforms to police powers
The Act amends the PPR to provide for the trial of the use of handheld scanners (metal detectors) in public places in ‘Safe Night Precincts’ at Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise (PPR pt 3A). This has a two-year sunset clause limiting the length of the trial without further legislation (PPR s 39H).
Concerns regarding the Act’s impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth
A number of concerns regarding the Act’s impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people were raised during the committee reporting process. The Australian Lawyers Alliance noted that as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people were overrepresented among young people in detention, the Act would have the effect of increasing their incarceration. The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak stated that the Act was drafted ‘without consideration of trauma informed, culturally and cognitively based evidence based responses’ while a representative of Amnesty International raised concerns that the Act made it more likely that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people’s interaction with the criminal justice system or police would result in incarceration. In response to the provision for electronic monitoring devices, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Legal Service North Queensland noted that despite the Youth Justice Strategy 2019-23 rejecting the ‘historical approach’ to youth crime of harsher penalties leading to incarceration, ‘the proposed tracking device laws adopt exactly this approach’.