Overview
- Specified offences including aggravated home invasion, carjacking, gross‑violence injuries, and serious or repeat aggravated burglary and armed robbery will be prosecuted in the County Court.
- Maximum penalties will rise, with aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking proposed to increase from 25 years to life imprisonment for offenders aged 14 and above.
- Sentencing principles for children will be rewritten to prioritise community safety and victims’ impact and to remove the rule that jail must be a last resort.
- Drafting is under way to amend the Crimes Act, Children, Youth and Families Act and Youth Justice Act, with no commencement date set; children sentenced under the regime will serve time in youth facilities and may age into adult prison.
- Police representatives welcomed tougher consequences as legal, human‑rights and Aboriginal organisations condemned likely rights breaches and disproportionate impacts, while the opposition urged a broader model like Queensland’s; the government cited rising youth involvement in robberies, aggravated burglaries and car thefts.