Safety & Emergency

This bill implements major reforms to Queensland's disaster management and fire services following independent reviews. It transfers disaster management to the Police Commissioner, creates two separate fire services under a new Queensland Fire Department, and expands the Queensland Reconstruction Authority's disaster resilience role.

This bill was introduced in February 2020 in direct response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It extends the maximum period for renewing a declared public health emergency from 7 days to 90 days, giving Queensland Health greater continuity in managing the pandemic response.

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.

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.

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.

This bill extended Queensland's COVID-19 emergency powers from 31 December 2020 until 30 September 2021. It maintained the Chief Health Officer's ability to issue public health directions, continued hotel quarantine cost recovery, and preserved emergency provisions in the Mental Health Act.

This bill makes it illegal to sell knives, swords, machetes, axes, Gel Blasters and other dangerous items to anyone under 18. It also bans the sale of weapons marketed to glorify violence, such as 'zombie knives', and requires retailers to display warning signs and securely store certain items.

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.

This bill modernises Queensland's prison and youth detention systems to handle emergencies better and address new security threats. It creates new criminal offences for flying drones over prisons or accessing restricted areas, authorises body scanners and surveillance technology, and improves how agencies share information about prisoners.

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.

This bill implements major reforms to Queensland's emergency services following independent reviews. It transfers the State Emergency Service and marine rescue functions from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services to the Queensland Police Service, and formally establishes the State Disaster Management Group to coordinate disaster response at the highest level.

This bill creates standalone legislation for the State Emergency Service, separating it from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and placing it under Queensland Police Service oversight. It recognises the vital role of approximately 5,400 SES volunteers who respond to floods, storms, and other emergencies across Queensland.

This bill creates Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ), a unified statewide marine rescue service to replace the current fragmented system of two separate volunteer organisations. MRQ will operate under Queensland Police oversight with a clear command structure from state to local level, providing coordinated marine search and rescue, assistance, and disaster response support across Queensland's waterways.

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.

This bill makes two sets of changes. First, it strengthens Queensland's electrical safety framework by confirming electricity distributors can issue defect notices and by giving the regulator clearer powers to ban unsafe electrical equipment. Second, it removes an uncommenced provision that would have given workplace safety representatives a new way to request information from the regulator.

This bill establishes a three-tiered public child sex offender register, named Daniel's Law after Daniel Morcombe. It allows police to publish details of missing offenders, lets residents view photos of high-risk offenders in their area, and enables parents to check if someone with unsupervised access to their child is a registered offender.

This bill modernises Queensland's police, fire and emergency services legislation. It streamlines police discipline processes, automatically dismisses officers sentenced to imprisonment, strengthens protections for confidential police information, and updates fire safety and emergency response provisions.

This bill reforms the national law governing trucks and other heavy vehicles across Australia. It expands driver fitness requirements to cover more vehicles, requires transport operators to have safety management systems, modernises the national regulator's governance, and adjusts penalties to be more proportionate to the seriousness of offences.

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.

This bill makes changes across several unrelated areas of law. Most significantly, it clarifies consent laws for sexual offences by putting existing case law into the Criminal Code, making it clearer that silence is not consent and that voluntary intoxication is no excuse. It also extends police banning notices, bans predatory wagering marketing, and ensures victims of solicitor fraud receive full compensation.

This bill updates Queensland's monitoring system for convicted child sex offenders living in the community. It requires offenders to report their use of anonymising software, hidden applications and digital device details, while giving police stronger powers to inspect devices and track offenders' online activities.

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.

This bill overhauls Queensland's casino regulation following the Gotterson Review, which found The Star Entertainment Group's casinos were facilitating money laundering, had deficient anti-money laundering programs, and encouraged people banned by interstate police to gamble in Queensland. It introduces mandatory identity-verified player cards, cash transaction limits, compulsory gambling limits, and requires exclusion of anyone banned by an interstate police commissioner.

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.

This bill modernises Queensland's electrical safety and workplace safety laws. It updates electrical safety definitions to cover new technologies like e-scooters and battery storage systems, strengthens industrial manslaughter laws to protect the public, adds negligence to serious safety offences, and gives safety representatives new powers to photograph and test workplace hazards.

This bill extended Queensland's COVID-19 public health emergency powers from 30 April 2022 until 31 October 2022. It maintained the Chief Health Officer's ability to issue public health directions for mask wearing, quarantine, and movement restrictions while allowing most temporary economic measures introduced during the pandemic to expire.

This bill would have established a Queensland Crocodile Authority based in Cairns to manage crocodile populations, prioritising human safety in populated waterways. It aimed to remove crocodiles from urban and recreational areas, empower Indigenous landholders to manage crocodiles on their land, and create a commercial crocodile industry through expanded egg harvesting. This bill lapsed and did not become law.

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.

This bill aimed to create a Queensland Crocodile Authority to remove dangerous crocodiles from populated areas and waterways, while creating economic opportunities through egg harvesting and controlled hunting on private land. The bill's second reading failed and it did not become law.

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.

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.

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.

This bill extends Queensland's trial of electronic monitoring devices for children on bail by one year, to 30 April 2026. The extension allows the government to properly evaluate whether the devices are effective at reducing reoffending before deciding the trial's future.

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.

This bill creates new criminal offences for protesters who use 'dangerous attachment devices' - specialised equipment like steel tubes, concrete barrels, and tripods designed to make it difficult and dangerous for police to remove them. It was introduced in response to climate, mining, and animal welfare protests that caused significant disruptions, including a $1.3 million delay to coal trains at the Port of Brisbane.

This bill makes wide-ranging improvements to Queensland's economic development and planning legislation. It streamlines how Priority Development Areas are managed, expands the Queensland Reconstruction Authority's role to include disaster prevention and resilience (not just recovery), and makes administrative improvements to infrastructure planning and the planning courts.

This bill sought to make supervision orders for dangerous sex offenders indefinite rather than fixed-term, and create automatic lifelong monitoring for repeat offenders. It lapsed at the end of the 56th Parliament and did not become law.

This bill aimed to reduce crocodile attacks on North Queenslanders by creating a new Queensland Crocodile Authority to remove crocodiles from populated waterways. It would have empowered Indigenous landholders to manage crocodiles on their land and expanded the commercial crocodile egg harvesting industry. The bill's second reading failed and it did not become law.

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.

This bill strengthens workplace safety across Queensland's resources sector following the Coal Mining Board of Inquiry and a review of fatal mining accidents. It requires better risk management through critical controls, mandates competency standards for key safety roles, modernises enforcement powers, and clarifies that companies can be prosecuted for industrial manslaughter when workers die due to criminal negligence.

This bill gives Queensland authorities emergency powers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows the Chief Health Officer to issue binding directions restricting movement and gatherings, order isolation and quarantine, and close facilities. It also provides flexibility for elections and planning approvals during the emergency.

This bill introduces the Digital Licence App allowing Queenslanders to carry driver licences and photo ID on their smartphones, and extends automated camera enforcement to catch drivers using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts. It also makes various technical improvements to transport legislation.

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.

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.

This bill makes major reforms to dangerous dog laws, commercial fishing monitoring, and biosecurity emergency powers. It bans restricted dog breeds like pit bulls, requires cameras or observers on commercial fishing boats to protect the Great Barrier Reef, and extends the duration of biosecurity emergency orders to better respond to disease outbreaks.

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.

This bill modernises how security is provided at Queensland government buildings by merging two categories of security officers into one and giving them clearer legal powers. It repeals the outdated 1983 State Buildings Protective Security Act and moves relevant provisions into existing police legislation, better integrating Protective Services into Queensland Police Service.

This bill is a package of law and order reforms covering knife crime, parole restrictions for the worst murderers, stronger 'No Body, No Parole' laws, protection for police animals, and updated child sex offender monitoring. It aims to improve public safety while reducing trauma for victims' families through the parole process.

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.

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.

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.

This bill reforms Queensland's corrective services system with a focus on victim safety and rights. It enhances the Victims Register, puts victims' representatives on the Parole Board, cracks down on prisoners contacting victims via phone, and strengthens monitoring of dangerous child sex offenders after release.

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.

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.

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.

This bill makes changes across multiple transport policy areas. It completes Queensland's transition to the national heavy vehicle regulatory scheme by transferring staff to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. It also strengthens road safety for e-scooter and bicycle users, creates consistent safety duties for bus and passenger transport operators, modernises toll payment processes, and allows overseas visitors to use digital driver's licences.

This bill extends Queensland's COVID-19 emergency laws until 30 September 2021 and gives local governments more flexibility during the pandemic. It covers extensions to temporary regulations across many areas of life, allows councils to adjust rates outside normal budget cycles, and creates new rules for holding COVID-safe local government elections.

This bill makes electronic monitoring of young offenders on bail permanent across Queensland. Following an independent evaluation that found monitoring reduced reoffending and kept young people out of custody, the government is removing the trial's restrictions on age, offence type, and geographic location.

This bill substantially increases financial assistance for victims of violent crime in Queensland, with the maximum payment rising from $75,000 to $120,000. It also recognises the seriousness of domestic and family violence by increasing special assistance payments for those victims from $1,000 to $9,000.

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.

This bill proposed to implement 'castle doctrine' in Queensland, expanding when homeowners can legally use force - including lethal force - to defend against intruders. It was a private member's bill that lapsed at the end of the 57th Parliament and did not become law.

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.

This bill strengthens the national framework for regulating heavy vehicles (trucks and buses over 4.5 tonnes) by giving enforcement officers better investigation powers, allowing certain high-performance trucks easier road access, and streamlining court processes for driver fatigue offences.

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 allows courts to impose adult maximum penalties, including life imprisonment with a 15-year mandatory minimum non-parole period, on young people convicted of offences including rape, torture, kidnapping, arson, and drug trafficking.