Criminal Law
Justice and Law Enforcement106 bills
Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards
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Victims' Commissioner and Sexual Violence Review Board Bill 2024
PassedThis bill became law.This bill establishes a Victims' Commissioner as an independent statutory officer to promote and protect the rights of victims of crime in Queensland. It also creates the Sexual Violence Review Board to examine systemic problems in how sexual offences are reported, investigated and prosecuted. The bill transfers the Charter of Victims' Rights from the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009 and gives the Commissioner power to handle complaints when victims' rights are breached.
Mental Health (Recovery Model) Bill 2015
WithdrawnThis bill was withdrawn from consideration and will not become law.This bill replaces Queensland's Mental Health Act 2000 with a new framework for treating people with mental illness who cannot consent to their own care. It is built around a recovery model that treats people in the community wherever possible, strengthens patient rights, and provides clearer ways to divert people with mental illness from the criminal justice system while protecting the community.
Criminal Code (Defence of Dwellings and Other Premises—Castle Law) Amendment Bill 2026
In CommitteeThis bill is being examined by a parliamentary committee before further debate.This bill amends Queensland's Criminal Code to enshrine 'castle law' principles, giving homeowners and occupiers broader legal protection when using force against intruders. It extends the existing self-defence provision beyond dwellings to cover other premises such as vehicles, caravans and tents, and expands the circumstances in which potentially lethal force may lawfully be used. It was introduced as a private member's bill following the largest e-petition in Queensland history, with 113,380 signatures.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026
Awaiting DebateThis bill has been introduced but the main debate (second reading) hasn't started yet.This bill is a wide-ranging omnibus that tackles metal theft with new criminal offences and penalties up to 25 years imprisonment, improves the coronial system to handle deaths in custody more efficiently and cover deaths of people with disability receiving Commonwealth supports, raises the District Court's civil jurisdiction from $750,000 to $1.5 million, and makes numerous other updates to justice and administrative legislation including repealing the Brisbane Casino Agreement Act.
Police Powers and Responsibilities (Jack’s Law) Amendment Bill 2022
PassedThis bill became law.This bill extends and expands 'Jack's Law' — police powers to scan people for concealed knives without a warrant using hand-held metal detectors. 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
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens Queensland's response to child sex offending, cybercrime, organised crime, and hooning. It doubles reporting periods for child sex offenders, gives police new covert investigation tools for online fraud and identity theft, allows civilians to assist in undercover operations, and creates offences targeting hooning spectators, organisers, and promoters.
Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2016
PassedThis bill became law.This bill removes the so-called 'gay panic' defence by stopping killers from using an unwanted sexual advance as grounds for reducing murder to manslaughter, except in exceptional cases. It also packages a long list of other criminal law tidy-ups, covering criminal proceeds confiscation, court evidence, juries, Magistrates Court procedure, and sentencing enforcement.
Mental Health Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes technical and protective amendments to the Mental Health Act 2016 before it starts on 5 March 2017. The key change stops statements made by a person during a court-ordered mental health assessment or examination from being used against them in civil or criminal proceedings, so patients can be frank with clinicians. The bill also tightens limits on detention, seclusion and restraint, fixes gaps affecting private mental health services, and makes small changes to the Public Health Act 2005 and Coroners Act 2003.
Expanding Adult Crime, Adult Time and Taking a Strong Stance on Drugs and Anti-Social Behaviour Amendment Bill 2026
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.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.
Criminal Code (Serious Vilification and Hate Crimes) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens Queensland's hate crime laws by creating higher penalties for offences motivated by hatred based on race, religion, sexuality, sex characteristics or gender identity. It also bans the public display of hate symbols like Nazi imagery, and makes it easier to prosecute serious vilification offences. The bill implements recommendations from the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee's inquiry into serious vilification and hate crimes.
Summary Offences (Prevention of Knife Crime) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes it illegal to sell knives, swords, machetes, axes, spear guns, spears, and replica firearms (including Gel Blasters) to anyone under 18 in Queensland. It also bans the sale of weapons marketed as suitable for violence and requires retailers to display prohibition signs and securely store dangerous items.
Forensic Science Queensland Bill 2023
PassedThis bill became law.This bill establishes Forensic Science Queensland as an independent statutory body responsible for providing forensic services to support Queensland's criminal justice system. It implements the key recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing, which found serious failings in how DNA evidence was tested and managed. Queensland becomes the first Australian state with dedicated legislation governing forensic science services.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Double Jeopardy Exception and Subsequent Appeals) Amendment Bill 2023
PassedThis bill became law.This bill reforms Queensland's criminal appeals system in two significant ways. It creates a new right for convicted persons to make subsequent appeals to the Court of Appeal when fresh or new compelling evidence emerges, even after their original appeal has been decided. It also expands the double jeopardy exception — which previously only applied to murder — to allow retrials for 10 additional serious offences punishable by life imprisonment.
Child Protection (Offender Reporting) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill merges Queensland's two child sex offender laws into a single combined Act, tightens the rules that reportable offenders must follow, and gives police new powers to inspect the phones and computers of offenders most at risk of reoffending. It responds to a 2013 review by the Crime and Corruption Commission and is aimed at helping police intervene before further offences occur.
Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015
PassedThis bill became law.This bill strengthens Queensland's domestic violence laws in response to the 'Not Now, Not Ever' taskforce report. It changes how courts handle competing protection order applications, makes courts actively consider ordering perpetrators out of the family home, gives victims a stronger voice in decisions, and clearly authorises police to use body-worn cameras on duty.
Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill implements the government's 'adult crime, adult time' policy, allowing children convicted of serious offences like murder, robbery, burglary and dangerous driving to receive the same penalties as adults. It also removes the principle of detention as a last resort, makes victim impact the primary consideration in sentencing young offenders, and creates an automatic process to transfer 18-year-olds from youth detention to adult prisons.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill amends over 30 Acts and regulations within the justice portfolio to improve how Queensland's courts, tribunals, and administrative agencies operate. It modernises the coronial system, strengthens protections for vulnerable witnesses, speeds up the handling of property offences, and fixes various anomalies across the justice system.
Community Protection and Public Child Sex Offender Register (Daniel’s Law) Bill 2025
PassedThis bill became law.This bill creates a public child sex offender register in Queensland, named Daniel's Law in honour of Daniel Morcombe. It establishes a three-tiered system allowing police to publish details of missing non-compliant offenders, residents to view photos of offenders in their area, and parents to check whether someone in contact with their child is a registered offender. The government committed $10 million to establish the register.
Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
PassedThis bill became law.This bill reforms Queensland's criminal justice system to better protect children from sexual abuse and improve access to justice for survivors. It implements key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, strengthens sentencing for child exploitation material offences, and criminalises child abuse objects such as life-like child replicas.
Criminal Code (Consent and Mistake of Fact) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes changes across several unrelated areas of Queensland law. It clarifies sexual consent provisions in the Criminal Code following a Queensland Law Reform Commission review, bans online wagering sign-up inducements, strengthens alcohol-fuelled violence measures including longer police banning notices and tighter ID scanning, and ensures victims of solicitor dishonesty receive full compensation from the Legal Practitioners' Fidelity Guarantee Fund.
Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes wide-ranging changes across Queensland's justice system, courts, electoral processes, and victims' rights. Major reforms include formally recognising the deaths of unborn children in criminal sentencing, allowing media to identify sexual offence defendants before committal, improving accountability for Justices of the Peace, modernising legal costs disclosure, and saving postal votes affected by envelope errors.
Transport and Other Legislation (Managing E-mobility Use and Protecting Our Communities) Amendment Bill 2026
Awaiting DebateThis bill has been introduced but the main debate (second reading) hasn't started yet.This bill introduces nation-leading reforms to regulate e-mobility devices in Queensland, responding to a near-doubling of injuries and 12 deaths in 2025. It sets a minimum rider age of 16 with a learner licence requirement, gives police powers to seize and destroy non-compliant devices, introduces drink-riding offences with random breath testing, and makes parents responsible when their children ride illegally.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill tightens bail rules for serious repeat young offenders, gives police new powers to scan for knives in Gold Coast entertainment precincts, and makes it harder for hooning drivers to avoid identification. It responds to a small cohort of recidivist youth offenders responsible for nearly half of all youth crime, tragic knife murders in Surfers Paradise, and ongoing community concerns about dangerous driving.
Australian Crime Commission (Queensland) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill updates Queensland laws to reflect the merger of the national CrimTrac policing database into the Australian Crime Commission, and bundles in several unrelated police, weapons and fire safety changes. It expands police powers to arrest on another officer's instruction, search vehicles for knives, and deploy explosives detection dogs in public places, while also giving fire officers new powers to identify building occupiers.
Corrective Services (No Body, No Parole) Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill introduces a 'No Body, No Parole' rule in Queensland. Prisoners serving time for murder, manslaughter or related homicide offences cannot be released on parole if the victim's body or remains have not been found, unless the Parole Board is satisfied they have cooperated satisfactorily with police to help locate the victim.
Transport and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
PassedThis bill became law.This bill bundles a series of changes to Queensland transport laws. It lowers the age for the state proof-of-age card from 18 to 15 and renames it the 'photo identification card', lets people apply for many transport products online instead of on paper forms, tightens rules that stop people convicted of attempted rape from driving taxis and buses, and updates public transport enforcement, dangerous goods and road works rules.
Crime and Corruption and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
LapsedThis bill broadens what counts as 'corrupt conduct' in Queensland and gives the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) wider powers to investigate corruption, including conduct by people outside the public sector. It also forces the CCC to give people a chance to respond before publishing damaging findings about them, and cleans up the disciplinary rules for officers moving between the CCC, public service, ambulance and fire services.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Ministerial Accountability) Amendment Bill 2019
LapsedThis bill would have created criminal offences for Queensland Cabinet ministers who fail to declare conflicts of interest. It was a private member's bill introduced by then-Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington following a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into allegations about the Deputy Premier. The bill lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament and did not become law.
Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018
PassedThis bill became law.This bill decriminalises termination of pregnancy in Queensland by removing century-old Criminal Code offences and creating a new health-based legal framework. Based on 28 recommendations from the Queensland Law Reform Commission, it allows medical practitioners to perform terminations on request up to 22 weeks gestation, with clinical safeguards for later terminations. It also establishes safe access zones around clinics and protects women from criminal liability.
Criminal Code (Non-consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Amendment Bill 2018
PassedThis bill became law.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 them, with penalties of up to 3 years imprisonment. Courts can also order offenders to remove or delete the images.
Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill overhauls how subcontractors get paid in Queensland's building and construction industry. It creates 'Project Bank Accounts' that quarantine money owed to subcontractors in trust, combines existing security of payment laws into a single Act, and gives the Queensland Building and Construction Commission stronger powers to tackle unlicensed work and illegal phoenixing.
Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill introduces a new criminal offence of industrial manslaughter in Queensland, with up to 20 years jail for employers or senior officers whose negligence causes a worker's death and up to $10 million for companies. It follows a government review prompted by the Dreamworld and Eagle Farm worker fatalities and also creates an independent WHS Prosecutor, expands workplace safety dispute powers to the Industrial Relations Commission, and brings back Workplace Health and Safety Officers.
Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026
In CommitteeThis bill is being examined by a parliamentary committee before further debate.This bill creates a new criminal offence for burning an Australian flag in a public place where the conduct is likely to provoke public disorder, intimidate people, or cause significant offence to the community. It is a private member's bill introduced by Mr R Katter MP.
Community Based Sentences (Interstate Transfer) Bill 2019
PassedThis bill became law.This bill establishes Queensland's participation in a national scheme for transferring community based sentences — such as probation, community service and intensive correction orders — between Australian states and territories. It replaces informal interstate supervision arrangements that had no enforcement powers, ensuring offenders who move interstate can be properly supervised and held accountable for breaches in their new jurisdiction.
Criminal Justice Legislation (Sexual Violence and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2024
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill implements the third wave of reforms from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce, focusing on sexual violence and improving how women and girls experience the criminal justice system. It creates new offences to protect young people from sexual exploitation by people in authority, strengthens protections for vulnerable witnesses, allows expert evidence to help juries understand victim behaviour, and modernises rules about how past behaviour evidence can be used in criminal trials.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill undoes tougher youth justice laws from 2012 and 2014 and returns to a more rehabilitative approach. It closes youth justice proceedings to the public (but lets victims attend), raises the age for transfer to adult prison from 17 to 18, and brings back court-referred restorative justice conferencing as a way to divert young offenders from the formal court system.
Child Protection and Education Legislation (Reporting of Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017
LapsedThis bill would have required ministers of religion who work with or are associated with a school to report suspected child sexual abuse to police. It amended the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The bill lapsed at the end of the 55th Parliament and did not become law.
Strengthening Community Safety Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill toughens Queensland's response to youth crime by increasing penalties for motor vehicle theft (up to 14 years for aggravated offences), strengthening bail conditions for young offenders, and creating a new 'serious repeat offender' declaration that prioritises community safety in sentencing. It also establishes multi-agency collaborative panels to coordinate support services for at-risk children.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
PassedThis bill became law.This bill makes several changes to policing and emergency services laws in Queensland. It expands the Police Drug Diversion Program so people caught with small quantities of any dangerous drug — not just cannabis — can be diverted to health services instead of going to court. It also increases the maximum penalty for drug trafficking to life imprisonment, creates tougher penalties for evading police in dangerous circumstances, and introduces a new offence for assaulting fire and emergency services workers.
Penalties and Sentences (Sexual Offences) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
PassedThis bill became law.This bill makes four sets of changes: it strengthens sentencing for sexual offences based on recommendations from the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, creates a new offence for impersonating government agencies, updates crimes at sea laws to match the national scheme, and fixes technical issues in the blue card system for working with children.
Crime and Corruption (Restoring Reporting Powers) Amendment Bill 2025
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill restores the Crime and Corruption Commission's power to publicly report on corruption investigations in Queensland. A 2023 High Court decision found the CCC did not have this power, invalidating past reports. The bill creates a new legal framework for public reporting with safeguards to protect individuals' rights while ensuring government transparency.
Police Powers and Responsibilities (Making Jack’s Law Permanent) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes Jack's Law permanent and expands police powers to use hand held scanners to detect knives and weapons in public places across Queensland. It also extends terrorism preventative detention powers by 15 years, confirms Marine Rescue Queensland can receive charitable gifts, and validates past SES volunteer appointments.
State Penalties Enforcement Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill overhauls how Queensland collects unpaid fines through the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER). It creates Work and Development Orders so people in hardship can clear their fines through unpaid work, medical treatment, counselling or courses instead of paying cash, while giving SPER stronger tools against people who refuse to engage.
Criminal Law (Domestic Violence) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2015
PassedThis bill became law.This bill responds to the Not Now, Not Ever report by the Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence. It creates a new criminal offence of strangulation in a domestic setting, makes domestic violence an aggravating factor that increases sentences, and restores the power of lawyers to suggest specific sentences to the court.
Summary Offences and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill creates new criminal offences for using dangerous attachment devices — such as sleeping dragons, dragon's dens, monopoles, and tripods — during protests. It responds to incidents where activists used these devices to block transport infrastructure and businesses, endangering themselves, emergency workers, and the public.
Protecting Queenslanders from Violent and Child Sex Offenders Amendment Bill 2018
LapsedThis bill sought to make supervision orders for dangerous sex offenders indefinite rather than fixed-term, and to create automatic lifelong electronic monitoring for repeat sex offenders. It was a private member's bill introduced by Mr Janetzki MP that lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament and did not become law.
Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
PassedThis bill became law.This bill expands police powers to respond to terrorist attacks and other declared emergencies in Queensland. It lets police compel anyone to hand over information needed to manage an emergency, creates new 'evacuation area' powers, allows detention orders against terrorism suspects whose name isn't known, and makes operational changes to corrective services and Commonwealth intelligence agency assumed identities.
Mental Health Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill completely replaces Queensland's Mental Health Act 2000 with a new framework for treating people with serious mental illness who cannot consent to their own treatment, and for dealing with people with a mental illness who are charged with serious crimes. It tightens the criteria for involuntary treatment, strengthens patient rights, limits the use of restraint and seclusion, and creates a new role - the chief psychiatrist - to oversee the system.
Health (Abortion Law Reform) Amendment Bill 2016
WithdrawnThis bill proposed to reform Queensland's abortion laws by setting clear rules on who can perform terminations, when abortions after 24 weeks are allowed, and by creating safe access zones around clinics. Introduced by independent MP Rob Pyne, the bill was withdrawn and did not become law.
State Penalties Enforcement (Modernisation) Amendment Bill 2022
PassedThis bill became law.This bill modernises Queensland's fines enforcement system by centralising the management of camera-detected and tolling offence fines under the Queensland Revenue Office and SPER, so people deal with one agency instead of several. It also reduces land tax for Special Disability Trusts, guarantees the security of rental bonds held by the Residential Tenancies Authority, and updates government confidentiality rules.
Transport and Other Legislation (Road Safety, Technology and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2020
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill introduces a Digital Licence App so Queenslanders can carry their driver licence and proof of identity on their phone. It also enables cameras to detect seatbelt and mobile phone offences, fixes technical issues with drink driving interlock laws, preserves legal interests in rail and busway corridor land, and gives Transport and Main Roads access to private land for environmental management.
Transport Legislation (Taxi Services) Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill adds demerit points to the traffic history of anyone caught providing a taxi service without a licence or peak demand taxi permit. It was introduced as a private member's bill in 2015 to crack down on unlicensed operators (including early ride-share services) that the sponsor said were undermining the regulated taxi industry.
Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill keeps Queensland's preventative detention terrorism laws from expiring and extends police counter-terrorism powers beyond state borders. It also widens who is responsible for fire safety in buildings, protects police review commissioners from being sued, and updates Queensland laws to recognise the new federal Australian Border Force.
Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens Queensland's domestic and family violence protections following the 'Not Now, Not Ever' taskforce report. It gives police more power to protect victims on the spot, makes protection orders last longer, lets agencies share information to respond to serious threats, and joins the national scheme that recognises domestic violence orders across state borders.
Integrity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill implements integrity reforms recommended by the Coaldrake Report and Yearbury Report. It overhauls the regulation of lobbyists to increase transparency, strengthens the independence of Queensland's five core integrity bodies by giving parliamentary committees a greater role in their funding and appointments, and extends the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to cover non-government organisations delivering public services on behalf of government.
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
PassedThis bill became law.This bill makes a set of changes across health, research and criminal law. It equalises Queensland's age of consent at 16 for all sexual activity, gives GPs access to hospital records through a system called The Viewer, streamlines research use of patient data, lets schools share student details with immunisation and dental providers, and frees QIMR Berghofer to pay research bonuses up to $10 million a year without Cabinet approval.
Corrective Services (Parole Board) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.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.
Animal Management (Protecting Puppies) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
PassedThis bill became law.This bill sets up a compulsory registration scheme for anyone who breeds a dog in Queensland, so authorities can find and shut down cruel puppy farms. It also modernises the Biosecurity Act — aligning animal feed rules with national standards, letting officials place restrictions on contaminated animals or materials rather than only on places, and updating the lists of banned pests, diseases and weeds. A smaller change clarifies the offence of using an animal as a 'kill or lure' to blood a hunting dog.
Evidence and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes changes across several areas of Queensland's justice system. It introduces shield laws to protect journalists' confidential sources, creates a pilot program allowing domestic violence victims' police-recorded statements to be used as court evidence, and establishes new rules for handling deceased persons' remains in criminal cases following the Daniel Morcombe inquest.
Criminal Law (Raising the Age of Responsibility) Amendment Bill 2021
DefeatedThis bill was defeated at the second reading — the main debate on its principles. It cannot proceed further.This bill sought to raise Queensland's minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years old, consistent with United Nations standards and medical evidence that children under 14 lack the brain development to fully understand the consequences of their actions. It was a private member's bill introduced by Michael Berkman MP (Greens) that failed at its second reading vote and did not become law.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
PassedThis bill became law.This bill makes broad changes across policing, corrective services, and child protection law. It tackles knife crime in entertainment precincts, overhauls parole rules for the most serious murderers, strengthens 'No Body, No Parole' laws, creates tougher penalties for harming police and corrective services animals, and updates child sexual abuse offence lists to include modern Commonwealth offences.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation (Inclusion of 17-year-old Persons) Amendment Bill 2016
PassedThis bill became law.This bill raises the age of a 'child' in Queensland's youth justice system from under 17 to under 18, so 17-year-olds are treated as young people rather than adults in the criminal justice system. It also sets up transitional rules to move 17-year-olds currently in adult prisons, on remand or in adult court proceedings into the youth justice system. Queensland was the last state to treat 17-year-olds as adults, and the change aligns with national practice and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Criminal Law (Domestic Violence) Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill toughens Queensland's response to domestic violence by increasing penalties for breaching protection orders, flagging domestic violence offences on criminal histories, and giving victims better protections when they give evidence in court. It delivers three recommendations from the 'Not Now, Not Ever' Taskforce report on domestic and family violence.
Coroners (Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board) Amendment Bill 2015
PassedThis bill became law.This bill creates an independent Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board to examine why people are dying from domestic and family violence in Queensland and recommend changes to prevent future deaths. It amends the Coroners Act 2003 to set up the Board's membership, functions, powers, and reporting requirements, implementing a key recommendation of the Not Now, Not Ever report.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Wage Theft) Amendment Bill 2020
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes wage theft a criminal offence in Queensland, with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for stealing wages and 14 years for fraud against employees. It also creates a simpler, cheaper process for workers to recover unpaid wages through the Industrial Magistrates Court, including conciliation before matters go to a hearing.
Public Health (Childcare Vaccination) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill lets Queensland childcare services refuse to enrol or exclude children who aren't up to date with their vaccinations, and protects operators from being sued for those decisions. It also gives the Health Ombudsman stronger powers to compel people to attend and answer questions during healthcare complaint investigations.
Penalties and Sentences (Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council) Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill re-establishes the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, an independent body that advises on sentencing, researches how sentences are set, and seeks community views. The council had been created in 2010 and dissolved in 2012; this bill brings it back in permanent legislation.
Crime and Corruption and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill reforms Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission to make it more accountable, independent and effective. It overhauls the CCC's enforcement powers into a unified framework, requires the Director of Public Prosecutions to advise on corruption charges before they are laid, extends journalist shield laws to CCC proceedings, and introduces fixed seven-year non-renewable terms for commissioners.
Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill decriminalises sex work in Queensland by repealing criminal offences that made most forms of sex work illegal and abolishing the brothel licensing system. It implements recommendations from the Queensland Law Reform Commission to treat sex work as legitimate work, while introducing new offences specifically targeting the exploitation of children and coercion in commercial sexual services.
Police and Other Legislation (Identity and Biometric Capability) Amendment Bill 2018
PassedThis bill became law.This bill enables Queensland to participate in national facial biometric identity matching services, removes restrictions on police accessing driver licence photos for serious crime investigations, increases penalties for explosive offences, and provided temporary extended liquor trading for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Crime and Corruption and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens Queensland's anti-corruption framework by widening the definition of 'corrupt conduct' and giving the Crime and Corruption Commission broader powers to investigate corruption risks. It also implements recommendations from two parliamentary committee reviews to improve how the Commission handles disciplinary matters, shares information, and treats people named in its reports.
Heavy Vehicle National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens safety obligations for heavy vehicle businesses, increases penalties for driving offences that cause death or serious injury, and introduces several road safety improvements. It also establishes a national database of heavy vehicles and facilitates the transition from the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme to state-based registration.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill reforms Queensland's youth justice laws to keep more children out of custody and ensure they receive appropriate support. It creates a new bail framework with a clear presumption in favour of releasing children, bans electronic tracking devices on young people, enables better information sharing between government agencies and service providers, and authorises body-worn cameras in youth detention centres.
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation (Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill improves workers' compensation for Queensland coal miners and others with dust-related lung diseases, sets up a committee so families of workers killed or seriously injured at work have a formal voice, and strengthens electrical licensing safety rules. It responds to the re-identification of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) in Queensland.
Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
PassedThis bill became law.This bill gives Queensland Police broader powers to respond to terrorist attacks, bomb threats, hostage situations and other critical incidents. Police can search phones and require passwords, photograph and fingerprint people in an emergency area, use tracking and surveillance devices more freely, and destroy explosives on the spot. It also makes preventative detention orders easier to obtain and allows senior sergeants to declare emergencies.
Bail (Domestic Violence) and Another Act Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens protections for domestic violence victims by making it harder for accused offenders to get bail and giving victims more information about what happens next. It reverses the presumption in favour of bail for domestic violence offences, allows GPS tracking as a bail condition, and requires victims to be notified when a defendant applies for or is granted bail.
Liquor and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill rolls back two key parts of Queensland's 2016 alcohol-fuelled violence laws after an interim review found venues were routinely working around them. It scraps the 1am lock-out and the two-tier '3am safe night precinct' system, keeping a uniform 3am last drinks across all 15 precincts, while tightening the rules on one-off late-night trading permits and letting courts ban drug traffickers and suppliers from licensed areas.
Police Powers and Responsibilities (Commonwealth Games) Amendment Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill gives Queensland police temporary extra powers to keep crowds safe during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. It creates 'protective security zones' around Games venues, pedestrian routes and transport hubs where police can search people, vehicles and premises without a warrant, use detection dogs and direct crowds. The powers expire on 22 April 2018, one week after the Games end.
Domestic and Family Violence Protection (Combating Coercive Control) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens Queensland's response to domestic and family violence by implementing recommendations from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce. It recognises coercive control as a pattern of behaviour, modernises stalking laws to cover technology-facilitated abuse, reforms how courts handle competing domestic violence claims, and improves evidence rules so juries better understand DFV dynamics. It also makes unrelated changes to the Coroners Act, Oaths Act, and Telecommunications Interception Act.
Integrity and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens the independence of Queensland's key integrity watchdogs — the Auditor-General, the Integrity Commissioner, and the Ombudsman — following the 2022 Coaldrake Report into public sector culture and accountability. It makes the Auditor-General an officer of Parliament, creates the Office of the Queensland Integrity Commissioner, and introduces a criminal offence for unregistered lobbying.
Serious and Organised Crime Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill dismantles Queensland's 2013 anti-bikie laws and replaces them with a new Organised Crime Regime. It repeals the VLAD Act and Criminal Organisation Act 2009, removes mandatory minimum penalties targeting gang members, and introduces a new consorting offence, control orders, public safety orders and a mandatory seven-year jail 'top-up' for serious organised crime. It also toughens laws on online child exploitation, boiler-room fraud and drug trafficking, and restores fair process rights for people applying for licences in regulated industries such as tattooing and security.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Mason Jett Lee) Amendment Bill 2019
DefeatedThis bill was defeated at the second reading — the main debate on its principles. It cannot proceed further.This bill sought to introduce mandatory minimum prison sentences for the murder of children and create a new criminal offence of 'child homicide'. Named after Mason Jett Lee, a toddler who was killed, it aimed to ensure sentencing for child deaths reflects community expectations and aligns with other Australian jurisdictions. The bill was defeated at the second reading and did not become law.
Justice Legislation (Links to Terrorist Activity) Amendment Bill 2018
PassedThis bill became law.This bill implements a national agreement to make it much harder for people with links to terrorism to get bail or parole in Queensland. It amends four Acts to create a presumption against bail and parole for anyone convicted of a terrorism offence or subject to a Commonwealth control order, requiring them to prove exceptional circumstances before being released.
Family Responsibilities Commission Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill updates the Family Responsibilities Commission Act 2008 to strengthen how the Commission works in the five welfare reform communities (Aurukun, Coen, Doomadgee, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge). Its main change adds a domestic violence 'trigger' so courts must notify the Commission when a protection order is made against a community resident, implementing Recommendation 93 of the 'Not Now, Not Ever' report.
National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2018
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill enables the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse to operate in Queensland, following recommendations from the Royal Commission. The Queensland Government committed $500 million for redress payments to people who experienced child sexual abuse in government-run institutions. The scheme provides eligible survivors with monetary payments, counselling and psychological care, and a direct personal response from the responsible institution.
Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill updates police powers and several related laws to improve community safety and front-line policing. It creates new search powers for high-risk missing persons, simplifies crime scene rules, strengthens evade police provisions, streamlines parole board processes, and adds Commonwealth child sex offences to Queensland's reportable offender scheme.
Criminal Code and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
PassedThis bill became law.This bill strengthens Queensland's criminal law response to child homicide, following a Sentencing Advisory Council inquiry that found community expectations were not being met. It requires courts to treat a child's vulnerability as an aggravating factor in manslaughter sentencing, expands the definition of murder to include reckless indifference to human life, and increases the maximum penalty for failing to supply necessaries to dependants from 3 to 7 years.
Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill targets alcohol-fuelled violence by cutting late-night liquor trading hours, banning rapid intoxication drinks after midnight, and stopping new extended trading approvals for takeaway alcohol. It also reforms drug and alcohol bail conditions to focus on treatment instead of punishment, and tidies up a range of liquor rules covering craft beer, community clubs, bed and breakfasts and car park events.
Local Government Electoral (Implementing Belcarra) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
LapsedThis bill responds to the Crime and Corruption Commission's Operation Belcarra report by banning political donations from property developers to candidates, councillors, political parties and state MPs in Queensland. It also tightens the rules on how councillors must handle conflicts of interest at council meetings, with new criminal offences and the possibility of being barred from office for four years.
Criminal Law (Historical Homosexual Convictions Expungement) Bill 2017
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill creates a scheme for people to apply to have historical convictions or charges for consensual adult homosexual activity wiped from their criminal records. It covers offences from before homosexuality was decriminalised in Queensland on 19 January 1991. Once expunged, a person is treated in law as never having been convicted or charged.
Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill makes coercive control a criminal offence in Queensland and introduces an affirmative model of consent for sexual offences. It implements recommendations from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce to better protect victims of domestic, family and sexual violence, while also reforming how courts handle bail, sentencing and evidence in these cases.
Crime and Corruption (Reporting) Amendment Bill 2024
LapsedThis bill restores the Crime and Corruption Commission's ability to publicly report on corruption investigations, after the High Court ruled in 2023 that the CCC had no such power. It creates a structured framework for the CCC to prepare reports and make public statements about corruption, balanced by a public interest test, identity protections, and procedural fairness for people affected.
Penalties and Sentences (Drug and Alcohol Treatment Orders) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
PassedThis bill became law.This bill brings back a drug court in Queensland by creating a new sentencing option called a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order. Designated magistrates can suspend a prison sentence of up to four years while the offender completes a court-supervised treatment program of at least two years. The bill also tightens the dangerous drug definition, clarifies that long prison sentences can never be 'spent', and gives extra court protections to victims of domestic strangulation.
Abortion Law Reform (Woman’s Right to Choose) Amendment Bill 2016
WithdrawnThis bill sought to remove abortion from Queensland's Criminal Code by repealing the three sections that made it a crime for women to end a pregnancy or for doctors to help them. The bill was withdrawn and did not become law.
Public Health (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill creates a legal pathway for seriously ill Queenslanders to be treated with medicinal cannabis, while keeping all other cannabis use illegal. Doctors can apply to Queensland Health for approval to prescribe medicinal cannabis to a specific patient, or, in future, prescribe as-of-right if they belong to a class of specialists listed in a regulation. Pharmacists need a dispensing approval to hand it out, and patients, carers and institutions have clear rules about how to store and use it.
Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill responds to the December 2025 Bondi Beach terrorist attack by strengthening Queensland's laws against hate speech and antisemitism, and significantly toughening firearms regulations. It bans hate symbols of terrorist organisations, criminalises prohibited expressions that incite hatred, creates new protections for worshippers at religious sites, and imposes some of Australia's strongest penalties for weapons offences including new crimes targeting 3D-printed firearms.
Victims of Crime Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill increases the financial assistance available to victims of violent crime in Queensland, with the maximum payment for primary victims rising from $75,000 to $120,000. It recognises the seriousness of domestic and family violence by boosting the special assistance payment for those victim-survivors from $1,000 to $9,000. These are the first increases to most victim assistance caps since 2009.
Queensland Community Safety Bill 2024
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill implements a wide-ranging package of community safety reforms across policing, criminal law, weapons regulation, youth justice, domestic violence protections, and road safety. It expands police powers to scan for knives in more public places, introduces Firearm Prohibition Orders against high-risk individuals, creates new offences to protect emergency workers, and establishes a framework for removing criminal content from social media.
Criminal Code (Defence of Dwellings and Other Premises—Castle Law) Amendment Bill 2024
LapsedThis bill proposed to implement the 'castle doctrine' in Queensland by expanding when homeowners and occupiers can legally use force — including lethal force — to defend against intruders. It was a private member's bill introduced by Nick Dametto MP that lapsed at the end of the 57th Parliament and did not become law.
Criminal Code (Trespass Offences) Amendment Bill 2019
LapsedThis bill sought to create three new criminal offences targeting trespass on business premises and transport infrastructure. It was a private member's bill introduced by Mr D Last MP that lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament and did not become law.
Weapons and Other Legislation (Firearms Offences) Amendment Bill 2019
LapsedThis 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 significantly increasing penalties for weapons offences. It was a private member's bill introduced by Trevor Watts MP and lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament without becoming law.
Making Queensland Safer (Adult Crime, Adult Time) Amendment Bill 2025
PassedThis bill became law.This bill expands Queensland's 'Adult Crime, Adult Time' policy by adding 20 serious offences to the list of crimes for which young offenders can be sentenced as adults. It is part of the Government's Making Queensland Safer Plan and follows advice from an Expert Legal Panel. The bill also improves victim notification arrangements.
Victims of Crime Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill strengthens support for victims of crime in Queensland. It makes financial assistance easier to claim, extends it to victims of domestic and family violence including elder abuse and economic abuse, and creates a new Charter of Victims' Rights. It also introduces legal protection for sexual assault counselling records and automatically treats sexual offence victims as 'special witnesses' in court.
Crime and Corruption Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill reforms the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC), Queensland's anti-corruption watchdog, by restoring its independence and broadening how people can report corruption. It reverses several changes made in 2014, separating the CEO role from the commissioners, requiring cross-party agreement on senior appointments, and bringing back the CCC's power to prevent corruption and run its own research.
Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill rolls back a package of tough-on-youth-crime laws introduced in 2013 and 2014. It abolishes youth boot camps, ends the offence of breaching bail for children, restores a ban on naming children in the media, and reinstates the principle that detention or imprisonment should only be used as a last resort.
Disability Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
Passed (amended)This bill became law after being modified during debate.This bill extends Queensland's disability safeguards to providers funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as the scheme rolls out from 2016. It makes sure NDIS participants keep the same state-based protections - worker screening, complaints handling, community visitor checks and coroner oversight - that currently apply to people funded directly by the Queensland Government.