Sentencing and Young People (Qld)

In Queensland, when a young person is charged with a criminal offence, they will be required to attend the Children’s Court. If the court finds them guilty of offences, there is a range of sentencing orders it can impose, including good behaviour bonds, fines and terms of detention. This page deals with the sentencing of young people in Queensland.

Jurisdiction

When the Children’s Court sentences a young person, it does so under the Youth Justice Act 1992.

If a young person is charged with a serious indictable offence such as murder or manslaughter, the matter cannot be finalised in the Children’s Court. It must instead by committed to a higher court for finalisation. When a higher court sentences a young person, it may do so either under the Youth Justice Act or under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992.

Adult crime, adult time

On 12 December 2024, the Queensland government passed the controversial Making Queensland Safer Bill 2024. This Bill changed many of the sentencing practices and principles that apply to young offenders in pursuit of what the government has dubbed an ‘adult crime, adult time’ policy.

Under these new laws, children who are found guilty of serious offences such as murder, robbery, burglary and grievous bodily harm now face the same mandatory minimum penalties as do adults.

This means that sentencing courts dealing with children found guilty of these offences now have no discretion to impose a lesser term than the mandatory minimum sentence. For example, a child found guilty of murder now faces mandatory life imprisonment.    

Sentencing principles under the Youth Justice Act

When a court sentences a young person under the Youth Justice Act 1992, it must be guided by the principles set out in section 50 and Schedule 1 of that Act.

These principles include that a child who commits an offence:

• should be held accountable and encouraged to accept responsibility for the offending.
• should be dealt with in a way that gives them the opportunity to develop in responsible and socially acceptable ways, that strengthens the child’s family, and that recognises the child’s need for guidance and assistance.

Detention no longer a last resort

In the past, an important principle of youth justice law in Queensland was that when a young person was sentenced for offences, they would be sentenced to detention only as a last resort.

Courts were also bound by the principle that a sentence that allowed a child to remain in the community was preferable.

However, in 2024, these principles were removed from the Youth Justice Act 1992.  This means that courts dealing with minors no longer have to treat detention as a last resort and sentences imposed on young offenders may now consist of terms of detention even where other sentencing options are appropriate.

Sentencing young people to fines

A child may be sentenced to a fine only if they have the capacity to pay it. This generally means that a fine will only be imposed if the young person is in paid employment.

A fine must be paid by a specified time or by specified instalments.

If a fine is not paid within the specified timeframe, the time for paying may be extended. Alternately, the fine order may be cancelled, and a community service order made instead.

Sentencing young people to good behaviour orders

A child may be sentenced to a good behaviour order and released on condition that they do not commit a further offence during the period of the order. This order will generally be made if the offending is very low-level of if it is the young person’s first offence.

If a further offence is committed while a good behaviour order is in force, the court may resentence the child for the original offence.

Community service orders

If a child is willing to carry out community service and is assessed as suitable to do so, a court may impose a community service order. This order will require the child to perform a specified number of hours of community service, comply with the reasonable directions of Corrections and submit to other conditions.  

Probation

A probation order will be made against a child only if the child indicates they are willing to comply with the order. A probation order is a supervised order that allows a young person to live in the community under the supervision of Corrections.

A young person on a probation order must:

• Refrain from violations of the law
• Take part in programs as directed
• Comply with reasonable directions of Corrections
• Report and receive visits as directed by Corrections
• Notify Corrections if they change their address or change their place or employment or school
• Not leave the state without permission.

Intensive supervision orders

A court may sentence a child to an intensive supervision order (ISO) if it considers the child is likely to commit further offences and the child has been assessed as suitable for an ISO. An ISO will include the conditions that the court considers necessary to prevent the child from committing further offences.

A child on an ISO must:

• abstain from violations of the law
• comply with the reasonable direction of Corrections
• report to and receive visits from Corrections as directed
• notify Corrections of any changes of address or school
• not leave the state without prior approval

The order may have other conditions attached depending on the child’s individual circumstances. These may include abiding by a curfew or abstaining from drugs and alcohol.   

Serious repeat offenders

A court in Queensland can declare a young person to be a serious repeat offender if:

• at least one detention order has been made against the young person; and
• a pre-sentence report has been prepared and the court has received and considered it; and
• the court has had regard to the young person’s history of offending, bail history, any efforts towards rehabilitation made by the young person and any other matter the court considers relevant; and
• the court considers that it is highly likely that the young person will commit a further prescribed indictable offence.

When the court declares a young person to be a serious repeat offender, it must sentence the young person with primary regard to:

• the need to protect the community;
• the nature and extent of violence, if any, used in the offending;
• the extent of any disregard for the interests of public safety in the offending;
• the impact of the offence on public safety; and
• the child’s previous offending history and bail history.

If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Go To Court Lawyers.