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Objectives of the Bill

The key objectives of the Bill are to –

• Remove boot camp (vehicle offences) orders and boot camp orders from the range of sentencing options for children;
• Prohibit the publication of identifying information about a child dealt with under the Youth Justice Act 1992 (the YJ Act);
• Remove breach of bail as an offence for children;
• Make childhood findings of guilt for which no conviction was recorded inadmissible in court when sentencing a person for an adult offence;
• Reinstate the principle that a detention order should be imposed only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period when sentencing a child;
• Reinstate the Childrens Court of Queensland’s (the CCQ’s) sentence review jurisdiction and expand the jurisdiction to include Magistrates’ decisions in relation to breaches of community based orders; and
• Reinstate into the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (the PS Act) the principle that imprisonment is a sentence of last resort and a sentence that allows the offender to stay in the community is preferable.

The Bill achieves the objectives by implementing a series of amendments to the YJ Act and the PS Act.

These amendments will have the effect of substantially restoring affected provisions of both Acts to their position prior to enactment of the Youth Justice (Boot Camp Orders) Amendment Act 2013 (which introduced boot camp orders and the boot camp program) and the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014.

Other Information

The Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 and Explanatory Notes  are available from the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel at www.legislation.qld.gov.au.

The Hansard transcript of the explanatory speech for the Bill can be accessed here.

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Referral

On 1 December 2015, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for Training and Skills, the Hon Yvette D’Ath MP, introduced the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 into the Queensland Parliament.  In accordance with Standing Order 131 of the Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Assembly, the Bill was referred to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee (the committee) for detailed consideration.

The committee is required to report to the Parliament by 1 March 2016.

The committee tabled its report on 1 March 2016.  It can be viewed under the Related Publications tab.

Submissions

Submissions closed on Friday, 22 January 2016.  Submissions received can be viewed under the Submissions tab.

Submissions will only be published following formal acceptance by the Committee.