No Children Charged with New Qld Adult Crime Laws in 11 Years

Published: April 7, 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online — Scrutinizing the statistics behind the headlines.

The Queensland Government’s aggressive expansion of its “Adult Crime, Adult Time” sentencing regime has been met with a startling statistical reality: new data reveals that no children have been charged with several of the newly added offences in over a decade. As the Crisafulli Government moves to increase the number of “significant offences” subject to adult-style penalties to 45, internal government figures presented to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday show that crimes like “aiding suicide” and “stupefying with intent” have seen zero youth charges since at least 2015.

The revelation has ignited a fierce debate over the “Youth Crime Crisis” narrative used to justify the laws, which require a controversial override of the state’s Human Rights Act. While the government argues that the legislation is a necessary deterrent to “turn the tide” on repeat offenders, youth advocates claim the inclusion of “ghost offences”—crimes that children simply aren’t committing—proves the policy is more about political optics than public safety. Katherine Hayes, CEO of the Youth Advocacy Centre, told the committee that claiming these never-committed crimes constitute a “crisis” is “simply untrue” and “makes no sense.”

The statistics highlight a significant disconnect between the legislation and the actual patterns of youth offending in Queensland. According to the data:

Zero charges: No person under 18 has been charged with “aiding suicide” or “stupefying to commit an indictable offence” in 11 years.
Single digits: Only nine young people have been charged with four other proposed “adult time” offences—including conspiring to murder and administering poison—since 2015.
The Adult Reality: Many of these offences are committed dozens of times more often by adults than children, leading experts to question why they are being framed as a specific “youth justice” solution.

Despite these figures, the government maintains that the “Adult Crime, Adult Time” framework is already working. Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber pointed to a 7.2% drop in the number of crime victims in 2025 as evidence that the tougher stance is delivering results. “We make no apology for strengthening youth crime laws to ensure there are serious consequences for actions,” Gerber said on Tuesday, insisting that even if certain offences are rare, the law must be prepared to handle the “worst of the worst.”

The expansion of the laws allows children to be sentenced to life behind bars for certain non-violent crimes, with mandatory life sentences for murder. This “tough on crime” approach has been criticized for ignoring the root causes of offending, such as domestic violence and unstable housing. Opponents argue that if adult-style penalties don’t deter adults—whose offending rates in these categories are significantly higher—there is no evidence they will deter children.

As the Expanding Adult Crime, Adult Time Bill 2026 progresses through Parliament, the “11-year zero” statistic remains a thorn in the side of the government’s rhetoric. For the people of Queensland, the debate is no longer just about whether the laws are “tough,” but whether they are being applied to a reality that actually exists. With youth crime at near-record lows according to police data, the push for more “Adult Time” for “non-existent crimes” suggests that the state’s battle for law and order is being fought as much in the polling booths as it is in the courtrooms.

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