Queensland Labor backflips to make breach of bail an offence for children

Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says the government has ‘listened to the community’ and will introduce a new offence in the youth justice act. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

The Queensland government will begin charging children with criminal offences for breaching bail conditions – a move that advocates say will cause a human rights emergency in the state’s buckling youth detention system.

Labor had previously repeatedly ruled out reintroducing breach of bail as a criminal offence, arguing it would not be effective. Senior government sources had told Guardian Australia as recently as last week that such a move would not occur.