Corrective Services (Parole Board) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017

Overview

This bill replaces Queensland's three separate parole boards with a single, professionalised Parole Board Queensland led by a former judge. It also gives corrective services officers clearer power to electronically monitor parolees through GPS devices and curfews. The reforms respond to the 2016 Sofronoff review of the parole system.

Who it affects

Prisoners applying for parole, people released on parole (who may face electronic monitoring and curfews), victims and the wider community, and the members of the three existing parole boards who will lose their positions when the new board starts.

Key changes

• Abolishes the Queensland Parole Board and two regional parole boards and replaces them with a single Parole Board Queensland
• Requires a full-time president (a former judge) and deputy president, plus professional, police, public service and community members
• Requires a five-member panel including the president or deputy president to decide parole for prisoners convicted of serious violent, serious sexual, or serious organised crime offences
• Cuts maximum decision times from 210 days to 150 days (deferred applications) and 180 days to 120 days (other applications)
• Clarifies that corrective services officers can direct parolees to wear GPS devices, obey curfews, and allow monitoring equipment at their home
• Allows a senior board member to urgently suspend parole and issue an arrest warrant without giving the parolee prior notice where there is serious risk of harm or reoffending