Youth crime has been in decline for a decade but the number of young people in detention in Queensland has increased 34 per cent over the past five years.
Instead of deterring young people from crime, prison has been shown to be criminogenic - or crime causing, says QUT School of Justice head Professor Kerry Carrington.
Professor Carrington has called for a rethink of the 2012 changes to youth justice legislation by the Newman Government that allowed for the transfer of young people to adult prisons once they turn 17 if they have six months or more of a custodial sentence to serve.
"This law contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which holds 18 as the minimum age of adult imprisonment and only adds to our over-burdened adult prisons," she said.
"Detention is a crime training ground. Young detainees are separated from their families and communities and form criminal connections in detention and learn to be better criminals."
Professor Carrington said the Newman Government had introduced changes to the youth justice system on the grounds that Queensland was in the grip of a youth crime wave and that young offenders were getting away with a 'slap on the wrist'.
Changes to the Youth Justice Act 1992 also included:
- allowing young offenders to be identified by name
- removing the principle of detention as a last resort
- introducing youth boot camps, including mandatory camps for repeat vehicle offenders in Townsville.
Professor Carrington said the Queensland Children's Court annual report for 2013-14 showed a steady decline in the number of young people appearing before the courts over the past decade, with a small increase of 3.1 per cent during 2014 after the reforms.
"This increase could be due to fewer police cautions and the abolition of court-ordered youth justice conferencing," she said.
"In that period, the Children's Court dealt with 10.1 per cent more cases with a corresponding 10.1 per cent decrease in police referrals to Youth Justice Conferencing on the previous year's figures.
"Most offences committed by young people in Queensland are non-violent. The most common charge for young people before the the Children's Court during 2013-14 was theft, including motor vehicle theft.
"While youth crime has declined over the past 10 years, the number of young people in detention has increased 34 per cent since 2010 in Queensland and about two-thirds of those in detention are Indigenous.
"Queensland is the only state that has had a substantial increase in the number of young people in remand.
"With about 72 per cent of young people in detention in Queensland on remand who have not even been convicted of an offence, Queensland now leads the country with proportion of youth detainees on remand."
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT media, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.
