Hon Laura Gerber MP

This bill closes a gap in parole oversight by requiring the full Parole Board Queensland to review all urgent decisions made by individual board members about suspending a prisoner's parole. Previously, only decisions to suspend parole were reviewed by the full Board — decisions not to suspend could go unchecked. The bill also retrospectively validates past Board decisions made this way since 2017.

This bill expands the Adult Crime, Adult Time youth sentencing scheme to 12 additional serious offences, replaces the existing police drug diversion program with a stricter one-chance framework, and creates new Designated Business and Community Precincts where police have enhanced powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

This bill extends Queensland's trial of electronic monitoring devices for children on bail by one year, to 30 April 2026. The trial allows courts to order children aged 15 and over who are charged with serious offences and have a history of offending to wear a monitoring device as a condition of bail. The extension gives the government time to properly evaluate whether the devices are effective before deciding the trial's future.

This bill makes electronic monitoring of children on bail a permanent feature of Queensland's youth justice system, available statewide. Following an independent evaluation that found monitoring reduced reoffending, improved bail completion, and reduced time in custody, the government is removing the trial's restrictions on age, offence type, and geographic location. The bill commences on 30 April 2026.