Legal Aid Queensland
OrganisationReferenced in 15 bills
Child Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill clarifies that adoption is an option for achieving permanent homes for children in out-of-home care, responding to coronial recommendations following the death of Mason Jet Lee. It requires case plan reviews after two years for children under the chief executive's long-term guardianship, to ensure better permanency options are actively considered.
Forensic Science Queensland Bill 2023
This bill establishes Forensic Science Queensland as an independent statutory body following the 2022 Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing, which found serious problems with DNA analysis in Queensland. It creates a Director with statutory independence, a supporting office, and an Advisory Council to ensure forensic services are reliable and impartial.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Double Jeopardy Exception and Subsequent Appeals) Amendment Bill 2023
This bill reforms Queensland's criminal appeal system to allow convicted people to appeal again if fresh evidence emerges, and expands the circumstances where acquitted people can be retried for serious crimes. It brings Queensland in line with most other Australian states and territories.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill makes wide-ranging amendments to over 35 justice-related Acts to improve court and tribunal efficiency. It modernises the coronial system, strengthens protections for vulnerable witnesses, expands when property offences can be dealt with in Magistrates Courts, and closes gaps in dangerous prisoner supervision laws.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill makes wide-ranging updates to Queensland's justice system, covering courts, tribunals, the legal profession, electoral processes, and victim recognition. It brings significant changes including allowing public identification of sexual offence defendants before committal, better recognition of unborn children's deaths in criminal proceedings, stronger oversight of JPs, and various administrative improvements.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
This bill responds to a small group of repeat young offenders responsible for nearly half of youth crime by tightening bail laws and allowing GPS monitoring. It also gives Gold Coast police new powers to scan people for knives in entertainment areas, and makes it easier to prosecute drivers involved in hooning offences.
Criminal Code (Non-consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill creates new criminal offences for sharing intimate images without consent, commonly known as 'revenge porn'. It criminalises both the actual distribution of intimate images and threats to distribute such images, with penalties of up to 3 years imprisonment. Courts can also order offenders to remove or delete the images.
Community Based Sentences (Interstate Transfer) Bill 2019
This bill allows adults serving community-based sentences in Queensland to have their sentences formally transferred to another state or territory when they move interstate. It replaces informal arrangements with a proper legal framework that ensures offenders can be supervised and held accountable wherever they live in Australia.
Strengthening Community Safety Bill 2023
This bill toughens Queensland's response to youth crime, particularly car theft and serious repeat offending. It increases penalties for vehicle crimes, makes bail breaches a criminal offence for children, and allows courts to declare young people 'serious repeat offenders' - shifting the focus from rehabilitation to community protection for this group.
Disability Services (Restrictive Practices) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill reforms Queensland's system for authorising restrictive practices used with people with disability. It replaces decisions by guardians and tribunals with a new Senior Practitioner who makes all authorisation decisions based on clinical evidence and behaviour support plans, aiming to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of restraint, seclusion and containment.
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.
Domestic and Family Violence Protection (Combating Coercive Control) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill implements the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce's recommendations to combat coercive control in domestic and family violence situations. It modernises stalking laws to cover technology-facilitated abuse, requires courts to identify the person most in need of protection in disputed cases, and improves how evidence of domestic violence patterns is recognised in criminal proceedings.
Public Sector Bill 2022
This bill replaces the Public Service Act 2008 with a modernised framework for Queensland's entire public sector. It implements recommendations from the Bridgman Review and Coaldrake Report to strengthen employment security, promote equity and diversity, support the government's relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and improve public sector governance.
Justice Legislation (Links to Terrorist Activity) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill implements a national agreement to restrict bail and parole for people with links to terrorism. It reverses the usual presumption in favour of release, requiring courts to refuse bail and parole unless 'exceptional circumstances' exist. The changes apply to adults and children who have been convicted of terrorism offences, are subject to Commonwealth control orders, or have promoted terrorism.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill responds to community concern that sentences for people who kill children are too lenient. It requires courts to treat a child's vulnerability as an aggravating factor when sentencing for manslaughter, expands the definition of murder to include reckless indifference to human life, and increases the penalty for failing to provide necessaries to dependants.