The Queensland government's announcement that youth offenders who commit serious crimes while on bail will face mandatory jail time has been condemned by Indigenous legal advocates, who say the proposal prioritises political messaging over evidence-based justice reform.
In a media release scant on detail but rich in rhetoric, the Queensland government announced over the weekend it would expand its highly criticised "adult crime, adult time" laws, with Premier David Crisafulli saying the changes would crack down on "reckless and recidivist youth offenders".
While no legislation has yet to be drafted, Mr Crisafulli said the proposed laws — titled Breach Bail, Go to Jail — would require repeat offenders who commit serious crimes while on bail to serve a mandatory sentence and would be in place by Christmas.
Speaking at an LNP convention in Brisbane, the Premier rejected suggestions the changes would unfairly target first-time offenders.
"To receive this penalty, a criminal would need to offend, be given bail, and then commit another adult crime, adult time offence," Mr Crisafulli said. "That's not bad luck, it's bad behaviour, it's bad for society."
Despite the Premier's rhetoric, people granted bail have not been found guilty of the offences they are accused of, and remain legally presumed innocent.
Furthermore, breaching bail is already an offence in Queensland, where children as young as 10 can face life imprisonment for certain crimes under the "adult crime, adult time" laws first introduced in 2024.
Legal and human rights organisations said the latest proposal represented another round of political point-scoring rather than meaningful reform.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) chair Nerita Waight argued Mr Crisafulli was "more concerned with alliteration than with the real-life impact his proposed laws will have on families and community safety".
"Putting more children in jail will make communities more dangerous. That is what the evidence makes clear," Ms Waight said.
"Queensland's so-called justice system is not working. There are hundreds of children in remand who are left to languish in detention without being convicted of any crime."
Queensland imprisons more Indigenous children than any other state or territory and has repeatedly been criticised for failing to meet its Closing the Gap commitments.
Amnesty International Australia's Indigenous Rights Campaigner Kacey Teerman said there was grave concern the proposed laws would "disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children".
"First Nations children are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in the criminal justice system, making up the vast majority of children imprisoned," she said. "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids face a system which is already geared against them; decades of racism and bias woven into the fabric of the criminal justice system."
Despite the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommending imprisonment only as a last resort, Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington told parliament's estimates hearings last year that "nearly half of all juveniles sentenced for an adult crime" spent time "remanded in custody before their case is finalised".
There is also heavy criticism over the use of mandatory sentencing, which legal experts have long argued fails to make communities safer and undermines judicial independence. Writing in The Canberra Times last year, former Law Council of Australia president Greg McIntyre SC said the use of mandatory sentencing "prioritises retribution over rehabilitation".
"This can actually lead to more reoffending, making our communities less safe in the long run," he said.
The "adult crime, adult time" laws have faced strong opposition from Indigenous, legal and human rights organisations, which argue they breach Australia's obligations under international agreements, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Ms Teerman said it was already "completely unconscionable" that children were treated as adults for a number of offences in Queensland, describing the latest proposal as a "dangerous escalation".
"This policy not only violates international human rights standards designed to protect children's rights, but also undermines fundamental principles of both international and Australian criminal law," she said.
Queensland Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber acknowledged as much last year, accepting the laws were "not consistent with international standards regarding the best interests of the child with respect to children in the justice system, and are therefore incompatible with human rights".
Ms Waight said the latest proposal was another example of "political point scoring" and again urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to intervene by calling out states and territories for breaching Australia's international human rights obligations and convening a national youth justice summit.
"This would be a chance for all leaders, from state and territory governments as well as federally, to listen to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal experts and leaders about what true community safety should look like," she said.
The government has faced increased criticism for its failure to hold states and territories to account for their closing the gap breaches.
Last month, National Indigenous Times reported on internal government documents outlining federal talking points used to resist calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility, despite legal advice stating the Commonwealth has the constitutional power to legislate.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also appeared to support the tougher approach adopted by some jurisdictions and used his Closing the Gap address in February to argue that they "have every right to put the safety of their communities first".
