Category Archives: Youth justice

LNP leader launches Queensland election campaign with promise of mandatory isolation for child offenders who assault guards

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David Crisafulli pledges minimum isolation periods for youths who attack staff despite evidence of dangers of solitary confinement

The Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli, has promised to introduce “mandatory isolation periods” for children who assault workers in youth detention, as the Queensland opposition formally launched its state election campaign on Sunday.

Speaking to a crowd of LNP candidates and party faithful in Ipswich, Crisafulli focused much of his remarks on what he has dubbed the state’s “youth crime crisis”.

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Australia news live: PM introduces Tu Le as Labor challenger for western Sydney seat of Fowler

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A joint police statement warns “there will be no tolerance for illegal behaviour or violence on any day of the year” in the lead-up to protests planned for the 7 October anniversary.

The statement comes from NSW police, Northern Territory police, the Queensland police service, South Australia police, Victoria police, Western Australia police, Tasmania police and Australian federal police.

Police respect the right to peacefully protest and assemble in Australia, however, there will be no tolerance for illegal behaviour or violence on any day of the year.

In Australia, there are offences that prohibit behaviour that incites or advocates violence or hatred based on race and religion, including the display of prohibited symbols in public under these circumstances.

The commission can confirm it carried out operational activity today at Parliament House. This was in relation to an ongoing investigation.

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David Crisafulli has sold the Queensland public on a crime crisis. It could prove to be his downfall

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Opposition leader creates political timebomb with election pledge to resign if crime victim numbers do not fall under an LNP government

David Crisafulli’s task in Thursday’s Queensland election debate was to avoid shooting himself in the foot.

He just about managed that. But the Liberal National party leader’s pledge – that if he wins government he would resign in four years’ time if crime victim numbers have not reduced – might be the equivalent of putting a political timebomb under the premier’s desk.

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Ben Smee is Guardian Australia’s Queensland state correspondent

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Five things you should know about the Queensland election

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The sunshine state is heading to the polls on 26 October. Can Labor cling to power or will there be an LNP landslide?

Queenslanders will go to the polls on 26 October. Here are five things you should know.

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Stop and search study in England and Wales ‘casts doubt’ on effectiveness

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Controversial power had less impact in 2022-23 than tactics such as focused deterrence and hotspot policing, says charity

Stop and search is one of the less effective tactics to tackle rising violence such as knife crime, according to the results of a study.

Research by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), a charity funded by the Home Office to combat youth violence, found that other tactics – such as community-led focused deterrence, putting more officers on the streets in troubled areas or mentoring and diversion for potential suspects – produced bigger cuts in violence.

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‘Betrayal’: Indigenous and legal groups condemn Victoria’s backflip on raising the age

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Jacinta Allan says age of criminal responsibility won’t be raised to 14 amid concern about youth crime

Indigenous organisations, legal experts and human rights groups have condemned the Victorian government’s decision to abandon plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, describing it as a “betrayal” of vulnerable children.

As revealed by Guardian Australia, the premier, Jacinta Allan, made the major policy reversal on Tuesday, as she announced several changes to the government’s 1,000-page youth justice bill.

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Failure to learn from ‘African gangs’ furore puts community at risk, Victoria’s children’s commissioner says

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Amid claims of a growing crime wave, Liana Buchanan says the government must work harder to identify the causes of offending

The Victorian commissioner for children and young people says African-Australian youth are again the subject of “intense” media and police focus as the state responds to perceptions of a crime wave without working harder to identify the causes of offending.

Liana Buchanan, the principal commissioner of Victoria’s Commission for Children and Young People, said she was concerned that it did not appear any lessons had been learned from the “African gangs” furore, and implored the state government, police and the youth justice system not to respond in ways that would make the community less safe.

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‘Harrowing’ footage sparks calls for Queensland government to remove children from police watch houses

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Exclusive: Labor MP Jonty Bush among those speaking out about state’s youth justice policies after Guardian Australia investigation

Queensland’s most prominent victims’ rights groups say the state government must remove children from police watch houses after the release of confronting footage showing the “brutal” treatment of children in the adult holding cells.

The videos, published after a year-long investigation by Guardian Australia and SBS The Feed, showed young people locked in “freezing” isolation cells, becoming panicked and struggling to breathe.

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Teenagers ‘crying out’ for return of youth clubs in England, study finds

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Steep cuts left three-quarters of 16- to 19-year-olds unable to get support, youth agency says

Young people are “crying out” for a return of youth clubs after swingeing cuts left three-quarters of 16- to 19-year-olds in England lacking ways to connect with youth workers, according to research shared with the Guardian.

More than half of people in their late teens are specifically calling for more youth work that offers “fun”, with older teenagers particularly hankering for more jollity, according to a study by the National Youth Agency (NYA). One in 10 said they have zero options to access youth work.

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Queensland Labor to remove principle of detention as last resort from Youth Justice Act

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Steven Miles’ government claims to have legal advice from Crown Law and solicitor general that amendments will not violate Human Rights Act or international law

The principle of detention as a last resort will be removed from the Queensland Youth Justice Act, under legislation introduced by the Labor government on Wednesday.

The Youth Justice Act will be redrafted to read: “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.”

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A bipartisan committee set out to end Queensland’s politicisation of youth crime. It failed spectacularly

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Disappointment and frustration as parliamentary inquiry into youth justice reform ‘degenerates into a squabble’

Queensland’s only independent state MP, Sandy Bolton, had high hopes last October when she was made chair of a parliamentary committee tasked with coming up with solutions on youth crime.

It was the first parliamentary committee to be independently chaired in more than two decades, and Bolton hoped it would stymie the politicisation of the issue by taking “a collaborative and bipartisan approach” that would lead to “constructive solutions”.

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Youth justice on the line as LNP and Labor weigh up community fears about safety

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Some Labor MPs are eyeing the LNP’s tough policy on detention in bid to sway anxious voters in October election


Looking down the barrel of the camera, LNP leader David Crisafulli addresses Queenslanders directly in the party’s latest TV ad.

Appearing concerned and candid in his home town of Townsville, Crisafulli delivers a simple message: Elect me, and I’ll keep you safe.

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Queensland LNP vows to ditch ‘detention as last resort’ approach to youth crime

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Opposition leader David Crisafulli says LNP would rewrite Youth Justice Act ‘to put victims first’ if it wins October election

The Queensland Liberal National party opposition has vowed to remove the principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act before year’s end if it wins the state election.

Speaking in Townsville on Tuesday, the LNP leader, David Crisafulli, revealed more detail about the party’s “Making Queensland safer laws” and accused Labor of having a “conga line of crises”.

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NSW outlaws gay conversion practices and makes it harder for young people to get bail

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LGBTQ groups welcome legislation passed after marathon overnight sitting, but critics line up to warn bail laws will put more children in jail

Gay conversion practices have been outlawed in New South Wales and it will be harder for teenage offenders to get bail after two laws passed the state’s parliament overnight.

The laws will, separately, ban conversion practices such as religious “straight camps” that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation and introduce an extra test for some young people seeking bail.

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Focus on youth crime may be influencing bail decisions for children, Victorian judge says

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Exclusive: supreme court judge says ‘it is a cause for concern’ if public policy is considered over individual merits of a case

A Victorian supreme court judge has raised concerns an increased focus on crime may be causing authorities to take a “more conservative approach” when it comes to assessing bail suitability for children.

In a decision published earlier this month, supreme court judge Rita Incerti granted a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy bail after he had earlier been denied by a magistrate at Bendigo children’s court.

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Concerns raised over solitary confinement in Queensland youth detention after deaths of two First Nations boys

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Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’

A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.

The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.

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Influential NSW independent speaks out against laws that make it harder for young people to get bail

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Exclusive: Barwon MP and former police staffer Roy Butler says it’s wrong to assume offenders view longer sentences as a deterrent

An influential independent New South Wales MP has spoken out against new laws from the Minns government that would make it harder for young people to get bail.

The Barwon MP, Roy Butler, a former police administrator, said it was wrong to assume that young offenders would always view extended sentences as a punishment and a deterrent to antisocial behaviour.

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More than 550 issues raised on behalf of children in police lockups this year, Queensland public guardian says

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Exclusive: Influx of reports comes amid concerns about welfare of young people detained in overcrowded adult watch houses

The Queensland public guardian says its community visitors have reported more than 550 issues on behalf of children detained in police watch houses since the start of this year, amid ongoing concerns about the welfare of young people in overcrowded and “unsuitable” lockups.

First-hand reports from watch houses, revealed by Guardian Australia in January and February, detail how the system is struggling to cope with an influx of children, the result of the state government’s “tough on crime” justice policies.

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NT supreme court shown footage of Don Dale tear gassing and hosing down of teens

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The recording forms part of the territory’s appeal of over $1m in compensation awarded to four teenage inmates

Disturbing footage of teenagers being handcuffed and hosed down after being teargassed at the notorious Don Dale Detention Centre has been seen as evidence in an Northern Territory supreme court case.

The vision, which will not be released to media, is part of the NT government’s appeal over nearly $1m compensation awarded last year to four teenagers who were unlawfully teargassed at Don Dale detention centre in 2014.

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Cairns watch house worker sounds alarm over ‘massive deterioration’ in children’s physical and mental health

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Exclusive: anonymised notes reveal concerns about injuries, self-harm, security incidents and sickness in overcrowded cells

A child locked in the Cairns police watch house is self-harming by banging his head against the cell walls.

Anonymised notes about more than a dozen children in the far north Queensland watch house last week, seen by Guardian Australia, detail concerns about sickness spreading in the overcrowded cells, injuries and serious security incidents.

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