A Save the Children service provider has condemned Queensland's new crackdown on child offenders, which the government admits will override their human rights.
The government will criminalise breaching bail conditions for children, increase the maximum prison term for vehicle theft from seven to 10 years and trial electronic monitoring of people as young as 15 under proposed laws tabled in parliament on Tuesday.
Police Minister Mark Ryan admits the legislation will override will state human rights laws and is not compatible with international standards, particularly protecting a child's best interests and using detention as the "last resort and for the shortest period of time".
The laws will have a greater impact on children, the minister wrote, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children in particular, including limiting their traditional kinship rights with families.
Save the Children service provider 54 Reasons condemned the proposed laws, saying they lack consultation and evidence and detaining children will only create future problems.
"Children deserve the chance to learn from their mistakes without being harmed in prison, which we know instead often increases the likelihood of reoffending," 54 Reasons state director Mena Waller said.
"We cannot ignore the fact that many children who find themselves in touch with the justice system have themselves been victims of crime.
"The government should instead be adequately investing in early intervention services that are trauma-informed, that engage with and strengthen families and that use effective diversionary approaches while also working with the community, and children and young people themselves, to find alternatives to detention."
The opposition has criticised the government over the legislation, which it claims copies that of the previous Liberal National Party government.
The Greens said Labor lacked imagination in dealing with the root causes of youth crime, such as poverty and trauma, while the Katter's Australian Party expressed doubts about the laws working.
The youth crime bill is expected to be passed into law after a rapid, two-week probe by a parliamentary committee.
Mr Ryan's report said the laws allowed courts to declare children as "serious repeat offenders" and sentence them "based on a prediction of future risk", which could allow disproportionate sentences, and "does not strike a fair balance between the best interests of the child and the need to protect the community".
However, the minister said that the community's rights to security and property outweighed those children's rights and laws intended to reduce crime were "consistent with the values of our society".
"Because it appears that less restrictive options are available to achieve the same purpose, the proposal limits human rights in a way which is not justified. Less restrictive alternatives may include, for example, providing additional bail support to young people," his report said.
"However, the government considers that this measure is needed to respond to the small cohort of serious repeat young offenders who engage in persistent and serious offending, in particular, offending which occurs while on bail."
