Children might be pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit "to avoid the impact" of Queensland's tough bail laws, lawyers have warned during a review of last year's youth crime crackdown.
The long-awaited report into the first six months of the Palaszczuk government's youth justice changes also revealed that in some of the state's watch houses, young people were held for longer in 2021 than 2019 – the same year a Four Corners expose triggered an overhaul.
The review found just three young people were initially fitted with electronic monitoring devices on bail, but they were "not the most serious repeat offenders" originally targeted for the trial.
Three separate tragedies, including the deaths of a couple and their unborn child, prompted the state government last year to introduce sweeping changes targeting serious, repeat youth offenders.
Among the measures was a presumption against bail for serious indictable offences and a trial of GPS monitoring devices.
A review team, led by former Queensland police commissioner Bob Atkinson, evaluated the implementation of the law changes – as well as services and programs – between May and October 2021.
The report was handed to the state government in March, with the state's youth justice minister defending the time it took to release it.
"I absolutely think that it needed to have the time taken for us to consult widely about it, and to consider it. It's a really important report," Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard said.
The report found the bail changes seem to have had "the intended impact" of keeping young people – accused of committing a serious, classified crime while already on bail for another serious offence – in custody.
Under those changes, that category of youth offenders was required to "show cause" – or prove – why they should be granted bail.
According to the review, 100 per cent of young people who failed to "show cause" were kept in custody, while the number of "serious repeat offenders" on remand increased to 358 – compared to 313 during the same period in 2020.
But the report also said stakeholders, including lawyers, had voiced concerns during the review about the "consequences" of the youth justice reforms.
These included "concerns children may be pleading guilty to offences they either have not committed, or where evidence is inadequate, to avoid the impact of the new bail laws or delays in resolving matters".
'Misunderstanding' around proving bail
Others also observed children could be left on remand – awaiting court appearances – for long periods of time without any action taken.
The review said this was supported by department reports signifying some young people were being kept in custody for "low level offences" unlikely to lead to detention order.
"There were concerns that the provisions designed to target serious, repeat youth offenders may be capturing first-time offenders and children who would not fall into the serious repeat offender category," the report said.
Several stakeholders believed the bail changes were not well understood by legal representatives and prosecutors and were being incorrectly applied, according to the report.
"They cited examples of bail being objected to where young people were charged with offences that were not prescribed in the show cause legislation," it said.
The report said there was no available data to show the extent to which the “show cause” provision was being understood and applied correctly.
In an interview with the ABC, Mr Atkinson confirmed there was initially "some misunderstanding" about the show cause condition but it had now been resolved.
"And of all the legislative changes and initiatives, that's probably, I think, been, arguably, the most effective one," he said.
Ms Linard said "a lot of education" had taken place since the first six months.
"A lot of meetings with our legal stakeholders, certainly the courts there's been a lot of education that has continued, and that's important whenever you introduce a new measure," she said.
More young people on remand for longer
The report found the bail law changes appeared to be contributing to more young people being held on remand.
Between May and October 2021, there were 725 children on remand – compared with 596 during the same period in 2020 and 685 in 2019.
The average length of time had also steadily increased.
For example, the median length of a remand "episode," which meant consecutive nights, was 19 days during May and October 2021 – a 58 per cent jump increase from 2019 when it was 12 days.
In relation to the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people being remanded in custody, the report said the rate did not increase during the six month period, compared to previous years, but noted First Nations people were still over-represented in show cause situations and bail applications.
The report also looked at the six-monthly average number of hours spent in certain police watch houses (May to October 2021).
"The data shows in seven watch houses young people were held for longer in 2021 than 2019," the report said.
"The exceptions were Brisbane, Richlands and Maroochydore."
"This finding is somewhat consistent with stakeholder advice that young people were being held in watch houses for longer durations since the reforms commenced."
The Brisbane watch house was a key focus of the 2019 Four Corners report, leading the government to remove all children held in that watch house and also create a standalone new department.
Ms Linard said they didn't want to see young people held in watch houses for any longer than they needed to be.
"A watch house, whether it's young people or adults, is absolutely only for a short period of time. It's processing," she said.
"And usually that does happen within one to three days. There are fluctuations, depending on where the watch house is across the state, movement of young people, they sometimes have to travel significant distances to detention."
"But absolutely, we don't want to see anyone in there for a long period of time.
Mr Atkinson said any increase was a concern but there was no "quick" or "easy fix".
"My sense of it is that everyone involved; police, courts, the youth justice, are keen to minimise the time they spend in watch houses," he said.
Figures – released earlier this week following a question on notice tabled in Queensland Parliament – revealed more than 200 kids, including a 12-year-old Indigenous girl, spent more than a week in police watch houses between September 2021 and 2022.
Three children tracked in $3.8m GPS monitoring trial
One of the most contentious measures introduced was a trial of GPS monitoring devices as a bail condition for certain 16 and 17-year-olds with more than $3.8 million in funding allocated to Queensland Corrective Services for it, the report said.
But according to surveys, there was a "low level" of confidence in the electronic monitoring initiative among representatives from the Queensland Police, Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs and Queensland Corrective Services.
While it was initially estimated that 50 to 100 young people could be eligible for electronic monitoring, the courts ordered just three people to be fitted with a monitoring device as a bail condition last year.
"Two young people were assessed as moderate risk of reoffending and one as high risk," the report said.
"This indicates the three young people who received electronic monitoring device were not the most serious repeat offenders originally intended to be targeted by the trial."
Ms Linard said if the courts had a concern about a young person being a safety risk, they remanded them in custody, rather than releasing them on bail with an electronic monitoring device.
One of the accused offenders wore a device for 55 days, the second had it for 23 days, while the third had it for 13 days. All three young people were either Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or non-Caucasian.
The review said the "implementation process appears to have progressed well", however pointed out information sharing between agencies took longer than expected to develop.
It also cautioned against expanding the use of the devices or changing the eligible cohort without a comprehensive impact evaluation.
Asked if it would continue, Ms Linard said the government had taken a "cautious approach" and there would also be a longer term review about the use of the devices.
"Our current position is our current position," she said.
Public perception 'doesn't mirror' decreasing youth crime rates
Forty-seven per cent of people surveyed about their knowledge of youth crime indicated they knew "nothing" about last year's reforms.
As part of the review, a research consultancy firm was commissioned to survey a sample of 2,454 Queenslanders about their knowledge of youth and adult crime, perceptions of safety, and confidence in the youth justice reforms.
Meanwhile, 66 per cent of respondents said they believed the rate of crime committed by young people had increased over the past two years – compared with only 34 per cent who believed adult crime had risen in the same period.
The report concluded the survey showed a "heightened level of concern about youth crime that does not mirror the decreasing youth crime rates in Queensland [and Australia]" and that where people lived determined their view of youth crime and feelings of safety.
"People in Townsville and Cairns were more likely than those from other locations to indicate they never or rarely felt safe in relation to youth crime and believed the rate of youth crime had increased," the report stated.
The review acknowledged the government's efforts to address early intervention and said greater emphasis was needed based on feedback.
Programs like the eight youth co-responder teams were "highly regarded" and deemed valuable, the report said.
But it pointed out that implementation of the Intensive Bail Initiatives was slow, with only two of the five services up and running during the review period.
Delivered by non-government organisations, these initiatives include intensive case work for young people and their families to help keep children out of custody and comply with bail.
The report found the delay, while not unusual, was "problematic".
"Essentially, this delay means the intense level of non-government support for high-risk young people and their families indicated as required … from practice experience has not occurred in a sufficient way to mitigate any negative impacts of the new legislation," it said.
Ms Linard said it takes time to stand up those services.
"We have significantly increased our investment in intensive monitoring and support when a young person's on bail," she said.
"But also if a young person is on orders in the community, we have now got additional intensive case managers across our youth justice centres as well as more funded services in the community that is monitoring but also trying to break the cycle."
She said the implementation of the changes had been successful and there was a heightened level of collaboration across government.
"To the point now where we have all serious repeat offenders where the file is actually managed across the state by 18 collaborative panels, where all agencies sit around the table and take a more holistic view about that young person so that we can really break the cycle," she said.
