Department of Youth Justice
OrganisationReferenced in 6 bills
Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill implements recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It creates new offences requiring adults to report child sexual abuse to police (including information from religious confession), makes it a crime to fail to protect children in institutional settings, criminalises child-like sex dolls, and enables prosecution of historical abuse that was previously time-barred.
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill makes it easier for first responders to claim workers' compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It creates a 'presumptive' system where PTSD in eligible workers is automatically assumed to be caused by their work, removing the burden on injured workers to prove the connection. This responds to evidence that first responders experience mental health conditions at 10 times the rate of the general workforce.
Child Death Review Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill overhauls how Queensland reviews the deaths of children known to child protection services. It requires multiple government agencies (not just Child Safety) to conduct reviews when a vulnerable child dies, and creates a new independent Child Death Review Board to identify systemic problems and publicly report on what needs to change.
Criminal Law (Raising the Age of Responsibility) Amendment Bill 2021
This bill sought to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Queensland from 10 to 14 years old. It would have prevented children under 14 from being charged, prosecuted, detained or given criminal records, and required the release of children already in custody for offences committed before age 14. The bill failed at the second reading and did not become law.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill reforms Queensland's youth justice system to keep more children out of detention while awaiting trial. It creates a clear presumption that children should be released on bail, bans electronic tracking devices for young people, and requires police to consider alternatives to arrest when children breach bail conditions.
Queensland Community Safety Bill 2024
This bill implements a comprehensive package of community safety measures. It expands police powers to search for knives in shopping centres and on public transport, creates new firearm prohibition orders for high-risk individuals, increases penalties for dangerous driving and attacks on emergency workers, allows police to issue on-the-spot fines for low-range drink driving, and reforms youth justice detention transfers.