Latest news
In the media
2026
- 25 August 2026: Mandatory sentencing for breaching bail (ABC Radio Brisbane with Steve Austin)
- 20 July 2026: Social media is still white-hot on youth crime – just ask the police (Brisbane Times)
- 16 July 2026: Circuit Breaker program (ABC Radio Brisbane with Ellen Fanning)
- 15 July 2026: Tribunal told children had to use toilet in front of others in Cairns police watch house (ABC News)
- 7 July 2026: Jail for kids cops flak (The Cairns Post)
- 7 July 2026: Experts slam ‘breach bail, go to jail’ laws (The Australian)
- 6 July 2026: 'Quicksand of crime': new youth bail laws (Australian Associated Press)
- 6 July 2026: Children being removed from care providers at short notice for licenced providers (7 News)
- 5 July 2026: Mandatory jail announced for Queensland kids who breach bail (Brisbane Times)
- 5 July 2026: Youth offenders face mandatory jail time for breaching bail under expanded 'adult crime, adult time' policy (ABC News)
- 5 July 2026: Youth detention and Cairns Watch house numbers (7 News)
- 4 July 2026: Breach Bail go to Jail law changes (ABC News)
- 3 July 2026: Kids locked up in cell hell (The Cairns Post)
- 27 June 2026: Children sleeping on mattresses in government offices (7 News)
- 27 June 2026: Premier’s demand as vulnerable kids left sleeping in government offices (Courier Mail)
- 12 June 2026: Queensland deputy premier says he has no sympathy for 'juvenile grubs' in youth detention lockdown (ABC News)
- 11 June 2026: Queensland youth detention staff walk off job, children locked down for entire weekend (ABC News)
- 7June 2026: Shock surge in state care (The Courier Mail, behind paywall)
- 6 June 2026: Indigenous children fears (The Sunday Mail)
- 6 June 2026: Queensland's child safety department has been dubbed an 'expensive failure'. Reforming it won't be easy (ABC News)
- 4 June 2026: Child Safety Commission of Inquiry report (ABC News)
- 4 June 2026: Advocates raise concerns over child safety inquiry's recommendations to elevate adoption in permanency hierarchy (ABC News)
- 21 April 2026: No capacity: Youth advocacy group slams ‘Breach bail, go to jail’ plans (Cairns Post, behind paywall)
- 21 April 2026: Queensland government defunding Murri Watch (7 News Cairns)
- 21 April 2026: Breach bail, go to jail laws (7 News Townsville)
- 7 April 2026: No children in past 11 years faced court over offences to be added to adult crime, adult time (ABC News)
- 7 April 2026: Government under fire for 'cherry-picking' crime stats (Australian Associated Press)
- 7 April 2026: No children charged with Queensland’s new ‘adult crime, adult time’ offences in 11 years, government statistics show (The Guardian)
- 7 April 2026: Time we had a police FORCE not a police SERVICE (Courier Mail)
- 27 March 2026: Proposed Adult Crime Adult Time law changes (Nine News)
- 27 March 2026: Proposed new laws allow police to move people on for 'causing anxiety' without committing a crime (ABC News)
- 12 March 2026: The politics of fear is shaping a generation of children (Op-ed for Cheek Media)
- 2 March 2026: Surprise inclusion among 12 new offences for ‘adult crime, adult time’ (Courier Mail, behind paywall)
- 2 March 2026: The introduction of 12 new Adult Crime, Adult Time offences into Parliament (ABC News)
- 1 March 2026: Twelve new offences added to Queensland's 'adult crime, adult time' policy bringing total to 45 (ABC online)
- 2 March 2026: The introduction of 12 new Adult Crime, Adult Time offences into Parliament (ABC Radio)
- 12 February 2026: Introduction of new electronic monitoring laws and likely impacts (ABC Radio South East Qld)
YAC quarterly newsletter
2026
- June 2026: We share details about our advocacy through art, the Taku Mana Motuhake Māori Program and look back on a year of the Youth Ambassador Program.
- February 2026: Read about our Youth Ambassador Program, a dedicated young person committed to change, and the latest research into effective responses to gangs in youth detention.
News from YAC
We are failing our children Queensland is winning the race that no one wants to – we are locking up more children than any other state*. The current youth justice system does not adequately support young people to get their lives back on track and prevent further offending, and in many cases exacerbates the issue…
All children have a right to education. But suspensions and exclusions are going disproportionately to students with a disability. Between 2016-2020, students with disability received 46% of all short-term suspensions, despite making up about 17% of the Queensland school population. The A Right to Learn Campaign is publicly calling on the Queensland Government to conduct…
To the Queensland Government – Do Better. A 13 year old boy has been in solitary confinement, in the “harshest of conditions”, for significant periods of the 32 days he was held in the Cleveland Detention Centre before being released on bail. Due to failings in the government’s records, there is some confusion as to…
Organised by Peak Care Queensland, individuals and organisations across Queensland compiled the below open letter to the Queensland Parliament that was published in the Courier Mail on the 28th January 2023. Our open letter to the Queensland Parliament STOP YOUTH CRIME – GET SMARTER NOT TOUGHER We are organisations and individuals concerned about preventing youth…
Contact YAC
Address: Level 4, 16 Peel Street, South Brisbane Q 4101
Phone: (07) 3356 1002
Business hours: 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday
If you need urgent assistance outside of these hours:
- Youth Legal Advice Hotline: 1800 527 527 (Mon to Thurs 8am - 9pm, Friday 8am to Sunday 5pm)
- Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800 (24/7, 365 days per year)
- Lifeline: 13 11 14 (24/7, 365 days per year)
- Homelessness Hotline: 1800 474 753 (24/7, 365 days per year)
- Mental Health Services Acute Care Team: on 1300 MHCALL (1300 64 2255).
