In December 2022, the Queensland Government announced a ten-point plan to “make tough laws even tougher” in response to a perceived increase in violent youth crime.
In response, QAI has signed an Open Letter with our allies, urging the Queensland Parliament to consider the following issues when deliberating youth crime:
- Stop politicising youth crime
- Take notice of the facts
- Protect our children – more than any age group, they are victims of crime
- Let First Nations leaders lead
- Properly resource our teachers and schools
- Take account of children’s disabilities and mental health concerns
- Tackle our social problems
- Hold children accountable for their behaviour in ways that work
- Divert children under the age of 14 from the criminal justice system.
Read the Open Letter, here: