Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: Queensland adds another 12 offences to ‘adult crime, adult time’ – Legal Perspective
The government says the 12 offences, mostly domestic and sexual violence related, were recommended by the Expert Legal Panel.
The legislation, which will now cover 45 offences in total, means youth offenders as young as 10 are handed the same penalties as adult offenders.
These are the new offences and their maximum sentence dependent on severity or aggravating circumstances:
- Assault occasioning bodily harm - 7 years imprisonment
- Conspiring to murder - 14 years imprisonment
- Unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassment or abuse - 10 years imprisonment
- Riot - life imprisonment
- Abuse of persons with an impairment of the mind - 14 years imprisonment
- Indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16 - 20 years imprisonment
- Choking, suffocation, or strangulation in a domestic setting - 7 years imprisonment
- Disabling in order to commit indictable offence - life imprisonment
- Stupefying in order to commit indictable offence  - life imprisonment
- Endangering the safety of a person in a vehicle with intent - life imprisonment
- Aiding suicide - life imprisonment
- Administering poison with intent to harm – 14 years imprisonment
The expanded Making Queensland Safer Laws will be put to parliament this week.
The government claims more than 4000 youth offenders have been charged with more than 19,000 offences under the legislation since it was introduced in late 2024.
Premier David Crisafulli cited police data showing the number of crime victims had fallen 7.2 per cent in 2025, compared to the year before, and attributed the reduction to the legislation.
“We promised Queenslanders we would continue to strengthen our youth crime laws and put the rights of victims first, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” Crisafulli said.  
“Expanding Adult Crime, Adult Time sends a strong message to young thugs, that there are consequences for their actions.”
Law Council of Australia President, Juliana Warner, has previously described adult punishment for children as a “shameful societal failure” and a breach of international human rights obligations that can irreparably harm children and disproportionately affects First Nations children, children from low-income families, those in out-of-home care and those with a disability.
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