Changes to Youth Justice Act and Regulation

2026 amendments

Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Act 2026

The Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Act 2026 amends the Youth Justice Act 1992 to make electronic monitoring as a bail condition for youth permanent, expand it statewide, and remove certain eligibility criteria.

Courts will have the option to apply it on any youth given bail, provided there are suitable services available to support the condition.

These changes take effect from 30 April 2026.

More information

2025 amendments

Making Queensland Safer (Adult Crime, Adult Time) Amendment Act 2025

The Making Queensland Safer (Adult Crime, Adult Time) Amendment Act 2025 (the Amendment Act) amended the Youth Justice Act 1992 to add 20 new offences, including three where only certain aggravated forms of the offences are prescribed, to the Adult Crime, Adult Time sentencing scheme under section 175A.

The Amendment Act also makes other amendments to the Youth Justice Act 1992 to:

  • enable persons automatically entered on the ‘eligible persons’ register’ (commonly known as the ‘victims’ register’) to nominate another person to receive information on their behalf regarding an offender’s movements, and
  • omit a redundant cross-reference to the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000.

With the exception of the victims’ register provisions, the Amendment Act commenced on assent on 23 May 2025. The Adult Crime, Adult Time sentencing applies to the 20 new offences committed on or after this date.

The victims’ register provisions commenced by proclamation on 28 July 2025.

More information

Youth Justice (Monitoring Devices) Amendment Act 2025

The Youth Justice (Monitoring Devices) Amendment Act 2025 amended the Youth Justice Act 1992 to extend the electronic monitoring trial period by 1 year, to 30 April 2026.

More information

The following more detailed resource is available for legal stakeholders, such as lawyers, police and courts:

2024 amendments

Making Queensland Safer Act 2024

The Making Queensland Safer Act 2024 (the MQS Act) received assent on 13 December 2024. Some of the provisions in the MQS Act commenced on assent, while others commenced by proclamation on later dates once the necessary implementation work was complete.

The amendments to the Youth Justice Act 1992 that commenced on assent:

  • provide that children who commit specified offences are liable to the same maximum, mandatory, and minimum penalties as adults
  • remove the principle of detention as a last resort, and the principle that a non-custodial order is better than detention in promoting a child’s ability to reintegrate into the community
  • promote the consideration of the impacts of offending on victims in the Charter of Youth Justice Principles and when sentencing a child
  • alter the process for the transfer of 18-year-old detainees from youth detention centres to corrective services facilities.

The Childrens Court Act 1992 was amended to:

  • include a relative of the victim among the classes of persons able to be present during criminal proceedings
  • remove the ability of the court to make an exclusion order in relation to victims’ representatives (including the representatives of a relative of a deceased victim), and persons holding media accreditation.

The following provisions commenced on 28 February 2025:

  • include cautions, restorative justice agreements, variations of community-based sentence orders, and breaches of supervised release orders and community-based sentence orders in a child’s criminal history
  • enable a person’s child criminal history to be admitted when they are sentenced as an adult, for up to five years after the most recent child entry
  • enable an adult’s childhood findings of guilt for certain offences to be admitted, for up to five years, as previous convictions for the purpose of a charge of dangerous operation of a vehicle with a circumstance of aggravation relating to a previous conviction.

The following provisions commenced on 28 July 2025:

  • remove the need for an application for direct victims of child offenders, and immediate family members of victims who have died as a result of the offence, to be placed on the eligible persons register to receive information about the custody status of the offender.

More information