Case Explained: Queensland children as young as 10 could face life in prison for non-violent crime under new laws | Queensland – Legal Perspective

Children as young as 10 could be sentenced to life behind bars for some non-violent offences under new youth justice laws in Queensland.

The legislation, introduced into parliament by premier David Crisafulli on Tuesday, would also curtail children’s rights to protection from cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment while locked up, and contradict international and domestic human rights laws, the government has admitted.

Katherine Hayes from the Youth Advocacy Centre said the laws could result in 10-year-olds being imprisoned for life even for the non-violent crime of arson.

Arson, which is an offence against property, could carry a life sentence under the new laws.

The use of fire against a person is covered by other offences such as attempted murder.

Other crimes that could carry a life sentence for children under the new legislation include rape, certain sexual assaults, attempted robbery with violence, drug trafficking and attempted murder.

As with adults, children would be subject to the minimum 15-year non-parole period if sentenced to life.

“The current Queensland government clearly has no regard to the human rights of kids,” Hayes said.

The Queensland youth justice minister, Laura Gerber, acknowledged her legislation, which amends the government’s “adult crime, adult time” laws passed last year, will disproportionately hurt Indigenous children.

“It is likely that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will be impacted more by these amendments, due to their over representation in the criminal justice system,” she wrote in a statement attached to the new bill.

“However … I am satisfied that there is no direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of race. This is because the increased sentences will apply equally to all young offenders.”

By imposing further strain on youth detention centres, the legislation could also “result in increased numbers of children in watch houses for extended periods of time”, Gerber said.

“This would be a direct limitation to the right to protection from cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and the right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty. This is because it is widely accepted that watch houses are not appropriate or humane places to detain children.”

In the statement tabled with the bill, Gerber conceded the laws violate the state’s Human Rights Act. Passing them into law would require the government’s second override of the act in six months, and the fourth in six years. The laws also violate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, she said.

The legislation adds 20 additional offences to the list of “adult crimes”, allowing children as young as 10 to be sentenced as adults. Thirty-three offences would now be considered “adult crimes”.

The government said its legislation was recommended by its handpicked expert legal panel, which was appointed in February. The panel does not include a criminologist.

Asked when the panel’s recommendations would be made public, a spokesperson for the minister for youth justice said its “work is ongoing”.

“The government definitely shouldn’t make such significant decisions based on a secret report, because this is the liberty of children that we’re talking about, and these are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Queensland,” Hayes said.

The Greens MP Michael Berkman said Queensland already locked up more children than any other state and had the highest recidivism rate of any jurisdiction.

“It won’t matter how many offences the LNP government adds to these laws, because the LNP’s underlying approach will actively increase reoffending rates,” he said.

The government’s earlier legislation also required an override of the Human Rights Act because it required children guilty of murder to be sentenced to life in prison, among other reasons.

Crisafulli said expanding his government’s youth justice crackdown sent “a strong message to youth criminals” and was “critical in taking dangerous repeat offenders off our street to help make our community safer”.

“This is the next step to restoring safety but it won’t be the last; we’ll continue delivering the stronger laws needed to arrest the youth crime crisis,” he said.

A recent Curtin University study published in the Lancet journal found young people leaving Queensland’s justice system were 4.2 times more likely than their community peers to die prematurely, with the most common causes of death being suicide, traffic accidents and drug poisoning.

“Most of these tragic deaths occurred before the age of 25,” said the study’s author, Prof Stuart Kinner.