The minister tasked with running Queensland’s “toughest in the nation” youth justice system told the state parliament in 2019 that continuing a punitive approach would create an “almost 100% chance” that children would reoffend.
Guardian Australia found comments by Di Farmer – made during 2019 state parliament estimates hearings – bluntly criticising the sorts of measures that have since been championed by the Labor government, resulting in record numbers of children in prison and soaring reoffending rates.
These include comments that building new youth detention centres – now a key element of Labor’s law and order pitch in Queensland – would represent a failure of government “leadership” to address the causes of children offending and reoffending in the community.
Farmer was Queensland youth justice minister from 2017 to 2020, and had been leading a progressive evidence-based reform of the sector until mid-2020, when the state passed bail laws designed keep more children in custody on remand.
(June 9, 2016) Horror reports surface
An independent review of youth detention exposes the use of excessive force and prolonged isolation in Queensland's youth prisons.
(June 9, 2016) Adult prisons left to adults
The state passes laws to move 17-year-olds out of adult prisons and into the juvenile system, to align with other states.
(June 9, 2018) Kids stuck in watch houses
Concerns are first raised about the increased use of police watch houses to accommodate children in custody.
(June 9, 2018) Sector filled with hope
Queensland announces a new youth justice strategy with the express aim of keeping children out of detention
(June 9, 2019) Numbers trending downwards
The government celebrates a decrease in the numbers of children held in watch houses.
(June 9, 2020) Labor changes tack
Four months before the state election, the government passes new laws that remove the presumption in favour of bail for youths in some circumstances. Observers say this change is the primary cause of subsequent overcrowding in the detention system.
(June 9, 2021) Bail for youths restricted again
The government again passes "tougher" laws designed to target a cohort of repeat offenders. These result in more being denied bail.
(June 9, 2023) Breach of bail an offence
The government introduces a criminal offence for children breaching bail conditions, despite ministers previously having repeatedly criticised the idea.
(June 9, 2023) System in crisis
Record numbers of children are held in youth detention, with staff shortages resulting in increased use of solitary confinement and a lack of rehabilitation programs, which many experts say is contributing to recidivism rates.
She returned to the post in 2023 to address what the state has termed an “exceptional crisis situation”, mainly related to a cohort of about 400 repeat offenders who have been in and out of detention centres, where many have been held in solitary confinement and received little or no support or rehabilitation.
In 2019, Farmer said policies that focused on incarceration would guarantee reoffending.
“If we persist with a ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ approach with our young people, [reoffending] is exactly what will happen. There is an almost 100% chance that young people will reoffend,” she said.
On Sunday, Farmer said her comment about a “lock them up and throw away the key” approach was targeted at the LNP’s policies.
But the numbers of young people in custody have increased markedly since the LNP was in power in Queensland. In 2014-15, there were 169 children (aged 16 and under) on an average day in youth detention. On 15 March this year, the state was holding 337 young people (aged 17 and under) in custody at detention centres and police adult watch houses.
Queensland now imprisons more children than any other state or territory. Reoffending rates, particularly among a cohort of “serious repeat offenders”, have also increased in recent years.
“What we do in youth justice will be based on evidence,” Farmer also told parliament in 2019. “The community expects us to sort this and that’s exactly what we will do.”
Experts say the state’s recent policy changes shun clear and overwhelming evidence, in favour of political drum-beating in regional communities; and that punitive policies, including efforts to keep more and more children on remand, are the primary driver behind escalating recidivism.
To address the explosion in the youth prison population, Queensland is building two new youth detention centres. The centres are needed, the government says, as the “population continues to grow, existing infrastructure ages and tough new laws … to target young offenders take effect”.
In 2019, Farmer firmly criticised the idea as a last-ditch approach.
“If we do not address the causes of offending and reoffending then all we will be able to promise Queenslanders is that we will build more and more detention centres now and into the future and we will never break the cycle. This requires leadership and bipartisan leadership,” she said.
Farmer sent a lengthy statement that referred to 12 government programs and $100m spending “to tackle the complex factors that can contribute to offending, including disengagement from schooling, behavioural disorders, and drug and substance misuse”.
“We are sorting it and addressing the causes of offending and reoffending,” Farmer said.
“We have always maintained that there is no single solution to youth crime. All stakeholders agree that it is a complex and serious issue that requires a multi-faceted approach over the long term.
“Communities across Australia have witnessed a change in the nature of youth crime in recent years, and the community rightly expects us to hold serious repeat offenders to account for the harm they cause.”
Labor’s management of youth justice has attracted fierce criticism from both left and right. The Greens spokesperson for youth justice, Michael Berkman, said it was “disgraceful that we have regressed so far in just a few short years”.
“For the minister to persist with the failed ‘lock them up’ response is unbelievably reckless, cynical and cruel,” Berkman said.
“She’s said herself that it will only harm children and lead to more reoffending.”
The shadow attorney general, Tim Nicholls, said the government was failing children in the system and the community.
“By her own measure this reheated minister has failed the test of leadership she set for herself and this government,” Nicholls said.
“This government’s actions have created a generation of repeat offenders, instead of intervening effectively to turn lives around.”
The LNP’s proposals include even more punitive measures, such as removing the international law principle of detention as a last resort from the Youth Justice Act.
Written Off seeks to detail the experiences of young people in Queensland’s justice system. Know more? Contact ben.smee@theguardian.com
