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Youth crime crackdown will not create safer Queensland communities
9th Feb 2021
Measures announced today designed to address youth crime will not work to make the community safer, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).
“We know people are looking for answers and we all want to live in safe communities, but the ‘tough on crime’ measures proposed today are not the solution,” said Greg Barns SC, criminal justice spokesperson, ALA.
“This is a knee-jerk law and order response – more about politics than proposing an effective solution that will make a difference.
“The initiatives will not reduce offending on bail and will not have the desired deterrent effect. Evidence shows that this approach is ineffective for young offending.
“Creating a presumption against bail for youth committing further indictable offences contradicts all effective youth justice principles that promote diversion away from detention and the criminal justice system.
“Locking more young people up is no solution – it just increases the likelihood of even more serious offending as the young people become adults.
“Prisons do not provide the support and intervention young people need to keep them out of trouble in the future.
“The plans announced today will have a particularly disproportionate effect on young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are already over-represented in youth detention.
“Sensible and effective long-term solutions need to be focused on early, community-level intervention and restorative justice techniques which will create better outcomes, safer communities and be a more effective use of tax-payer money.”
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