Criminal Code
LegislationReferenced in 42 bills
Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill gives Queensland Police new powers to protect victims of domestic and family violence without going to court. Police can issue 12-month protection directions immediately, high-risk perpetrators can be fitted with GPS monitoring devices, and victims can give evidence by video recording rather than in person.
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2023
This bill makes a wide range of health reforms to improve patient safety and expand access to healthcare. Key changes include allowing nurses and midwives to provide early medical terminations of pregnancy, counting babies as separate patients for midwife staffing ratios, requiring disclosure of serious patient safety risks identified by quality committees, and allowing Mental Health Court documents to be used in criminal proceedings.
Police Powers and Responsibilities (Jack’s Law) Amendment Bill 2022
This bill extends and expands 'Jack's Law' - police powers to scan people for concealed knives without a warrant. Named after 17-year-old Jack Beasley who was fatally stabbed in Surfers Paradise in 2019, the law now applies to all 15 safe night precincts across Queensland and all public transport stations and vehicles.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill expands police powers in four areas: longer monitoring of child sex offenders, new tools to investigate cybercrime, allowing civilians to assist in undercover operations, and creating offences targeting hooning gatherings and their spectators.
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.
Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024
This bill implements the Government's 'adult crime, adult time' policy, allowing children who commit serious offences to receive the same sentences as adults, including mandatory life imprisonment for murder. It removes the principle that detention should be a last resort for young offenders and requires courts to give primary consideration to victims when sentencing. The changes also open up Childrens Court proceedings to victims and media.
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.
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.
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.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Ministerial Accountability) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill would have created criminal offences for Cabinet ministers who fail to declare conflicts of interest. It was a private member's bill introduced by the Opposition Leader following a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation. The bill lapsed and did not become law.
Criminal Justice Legislation (Sexual Violence and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2024
This bill implements major reforms to Queensland's criminal justice system to better support victim-survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence. It creates new protections for young people from adults in positions of trust, makes court processes less traumatic for victims, and updates evidence rules to allow juries to hear about patterns of offending behaviour.
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.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill makes several changes to police and emergency services operations in Queensland. The major reform expands the Police Drug Diversion Program beyond cannabis to cover all dangerous drugs, treating minor drug possession as a health issue rather than a criminal matter. It also increases penalties for serious offences including life imprisonment for drug trafficking and higher penalties for evading police in dangerous circumstances.
Penalties and Sentences (Sexual Offences) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill reforms how courts sentence sexual offenders and creates a new offence for impersonating government agencies. It implements recommendations from the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council to better recognise victim harm and limit offenders using their 'good reputation' to reduce sentences.
Police Powers and Responsibilities (Making Jack’s Law Permanent) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill makes Jack's Law permanent and significantly expands police powers to use hand held scanners to detect knives in public places across Queensland. It also extends counter-terrorism detention powers for 15 years, clarifies Marine Rescue Queensland's ability to receive charitable donations, and validates historical SES member appointments.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill updates law enforcement powers across multiple areas. It clarifies that police can access cloud-based and social media information when executing search warrants, enhances domestic violence response capabilities, strengthens brothel licensing enforcement, and makes practical improvements to weapons licensing and police operations.
Corrective Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill strengthens anti-corruption measures in Queensland prisons following the Crime and Corruption Commission's Taskforce Flaxton investigation, improves the parole system for victims of crime, and establishes a permanent firearms amnesty allowing people to surrender unregistered firearms without prosecution. It also clarifies lawful possession of gel blasters and replica firearms for club members and collectors.
Working with Children Legislation (Indigenous Communities) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill proposed giving Indigenous Community Justice Groups the power to approve Blue Cards (Working with Children checks) for community members who would otherwise be denied due to certain non-sexual criminal offences. The bill's second reading failed and it did not become law.
Tobacco and Other Smoking Products (Dismantling Illegal Trade) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill dramatically strengthens Queensland's enforcement powers against illegal tobacco and nicotine vape sales. It extends business closure periods from 72 hours to 3 months, creates new criminal and civil penalties for landlords who allow illegal sales on their premises, and enables undercover operations to catch offenders.
Police Legislation (Efficiencies and Effectiveness) Amendment Bill 2021
This bill modernises Queensland Police Service operations by cutting red tape and updating procedures. It allows senior police officers to witness certain legal documents instead of requiring Justices of the Peace, expands court powers to order access to seized phones and computers, and updates drug testing procedures for officers involved in serious incidents.
Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa (Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice) Bill 2020
This bill creates Australia's first legal framework to recognise Torres Strait Islander traditional child rearing practice (Ailan Kastom), where children are raised by cultural parents within extended family networks. It allows families to apply for cultural recognition orders that transfer legal parentage from birth parents to cultural parents, reflected on new birth certificates.
Evidence and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
This bill makes several changes to Queensland's evidence and court procedures. It introduces shield laws to protect journalists' confidential sources, allows domestic violence victims to use police-recorded video statements as their main evidence, creates new procedures for examining deceased persons' remains in criminal cases, and makes administrative updates to magistrate transfers and computer warrants.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Wage Theft) Amendment Bill 2020
This bill makes deliberate wage theft a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It also creates a simpler, faster and cheaper process for workers to recover unpaid wages through the Industrial Magistrates Court, with free conciliation offered before matters go to court.
Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill decriminalises sex work in Queensland, removing criminal offences for sex work between consenting adults and abolishing the brothel licensing system. It implements the Queensland Law Reform Commission's recommendations to treat sex work as legitimate work while creating strong new offences to protect children from exploitation.
Police and Other Legislation (Identity and Biometric Capability) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill enables Queensland to participate in a national facial recognition system that shares driver licence photos between Australian governments to combat identity fraud and terrorism. It also increases penalties for explosives offences and provided temporary extended liquor trading for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Heavy Vehicle National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill strengthens heavy vehicle safety by requiring company executives to actively ensure compliance with safety laws, and establishes a national database of heavy vehicles. It also significantly increases penalties for dangerous and careless driving that causes death or serious injury, and allows vehicle owners to be notified of traffic offences committed in their vehicles.
Emblems of Queensland and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill officially makes the Muttaburrasaurus langdoni Queensland's State fossil emblem, and fixes several technical issues with parliamentary procedures including remote committee participation, privacy for unwell MPs using proxy votes, and the definition of the parliamentary precinct.
Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024
This bill strengthens Queensland's anti-discrimination and workplace protections by requiring employers to actively prevent discrimination and harassment, expanding the grounds on which discrimination is prohibited, and creating new protections against sex-based harassment and hostile work environments. It also increases penalties for violence against workers and clarifies judicial immunity for magistrates.
Defamation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
This bill modernises Queensland's defamation laws for the digital age by implementing nationally agreed reforms. It creates clearer rules for when online platforms, search engines, and forum administrators can be held liable for defamatory content posted by users, and extends protection to people who report matters to police.
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.
Tow Truck Bill 2023
This bill replaces the 50-year-old Tow Truck Act 1973 with modern legislation governing the towing of vehicles from crash scenes, police seizures and private property in regulated areas of Queensland. It maintains consumer protections for vulnerable motorists while modernising the accreditation system for tow truck operators, drivers and assistants.
Transport Legislation (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill strengthens Queensland's approach to road safety by significantly reforming drink driving laws and improving speed camera enforcement. It extends the alcohol interlock program from 2 to 5 years, requires drink drivers to complete education programs, and expands the program to capture mid-range offenders. The bill also enables point-to-point speed cameras on roads with variable speed limits and improves marine pollution cost recovery processes.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Mason Jett Lee) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill sought to introduce mandatory minimum prison sentences for the murder of children and create a new offence of 'child homicide'. Named after Mason Jett Lee, a child who was killed, it aimed to align Queensland's sentencing with other Australian states. The bill was defeated at the second reading and did not become law.
Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill implements a 'No Card, No Start' policy requiring all workers in child-related employment to hold a valid blue card before commencing work. It also modernises the blue card application process, creates a register to monitor home-based care services, and expands the list of offences that disqualify people from working with children.
Tobacco and Other Smoking Products (Vaping) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill cracks down on the illegal vape and tobacco trade in Queensland by creating new offences, increasing penalties to up to 2 years imprisonment, and giving authorities power to close non-compliant businesses. It responds to a public health crisis with vaping among 12-17 year olds quadrupling since 2017, and supports the Commonwealth's national vaping ban.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill amends police powers and corrective services legislation across seven distinct policy areas. It creates new search powers for high-risk missing person investigations, expands crime scene powers, allows court orders to unlock seized electronic devices, strengthens evade police investigations, adds Commonwealth child sex offences to reportable offender laws, streamlines Parole Board Queensland processes, and reduces administrative requirements for court proceedings.
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.
Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill strengthens how Queensland government agencies protect and handle personal information. It requires agencies to notify people when data breaches occur, creates consistent privacy principles across government, and gives the Information Commissioner stronger powers to investigate privacy issues. It also streamlines how people can access and correct their personal information held by government.
Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill implements major reforms to Queensland's laws on domestic and family violence and sexual violence, following recommendations from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce. It creates a new criminal offence of coercive control (carrying up to 14 years imprisonment), introduces affirmative consent laws requiring active agreement to sexual activity, specifically criminalises 'stealthing', and establishes a diversion scheme for first-time DVO offenders.
Working with Children (Indigenous Communities) Amendment Bill 2021
This bill aimed to reform Queensland's Blue Card system for Indigenous communities by giving Community Justice Groups power to approve restricted working with children clearances for community members who would otherwise be denied. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill but failed at the second reading stage and did not become law.
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.
Weapons and Other Legislation (Firearms Offences) Amendment Bill 2019
This bill proposed to crack down on firearms crime by introducing Firearm Prohibition Orders, creating new offences for shooting at buildings and possessing 3D gun blueprints, and increasing penalties for weapons offences. The bill lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament and did not become law.