Queensland’s ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws will become tougher this week as more charges are added to the list of offences for which children can receive the same penalty as an adult.
Premier David Crisafulli says there are plans for five more charges to be added to the list of 13 in parliament this week.
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Currently, offences like murder, manslaughter and robbery are covered by the tougher laws.
This week, it’s expected to include offences like rape, aggravated attempted robbery, attempted murder, arson and torture.
The laws drew huge community backlash in January 2025 when a 13-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a supermarket worker at a Brisbane shopping centre.
At the time, the tougher laws didn’t yet include attempted murder.
Premier Crisafulli said the expanded laws are the next step in the government’s promise to “deliver the strong laws needed to turn the tide on youth crime”.
Do ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws work?
However, Amnesty International said longitudinal evidence demonstrates that carceral responses to youth offending in Australia does not reduce recidivism.
Rather, reports show that the incarceration of children exacerbates the impacts of trauma and alienation that can lead to offending.
In 2024, the Human Rights Law Centre said the policies “do nothing to address the root causes of youth crime,” including intergenerational trauma, poverty and systemic racism.
Associate Legal Director Rachana Rajan said the laws “condemn” Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who already face disadvantage.
“They are being subjected to irreversible harm – and dying – in custody.”
“Queensland already holds the shameful title of locking up the most children in the country. These laws will unjustifiably exacerbate this crisis of mass incarceration.”
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