Government under fire for ‘cherry-picking’ crime stats
A drop in youth crime under controversial legislation has been highlighted by a state government accused of indiscriminately collecting crime data to suit its message.
Statistics released on Tuesday provided a snapshot of what the state government believes are positive early signs following Queensland’s six months of “adult crime, adult time” laws.
The Queensland Office of Government Statistics’ latest crime report shows overall crime is down 1.2 per cent in 2024-25 compared to the previous year, once population growth is taken into account.
Attorney General and Acting Police Minister Deb Frecklington said on Tuesday the findings pointed to a small reduction in overall crime but showed impacts in areas important to Queenslanders.
The figures show a 16.7 per cent drop in the number of young offenders compared to 2023-24.
“Adult crimes, adult time” laws were introduced by Queensland’s Liberal National government in late 2024, shortly after it was elected, and will see children as young as 10 face life imprisonment for serious crimes such as murder.
“While this report highlights that we are slowly turning the tide on Labour’s youth crime crisis, of course there is always more work to be done,” Ms Frecklington said.
The figures also showed reductions in other key areas compared to 2023-24; these include a 9.9 percent decrease in thefts, a 10.6 percent decrease in robberies and a 5.6 percent decrease in stolen cars.
The vast majority of robberies, break-ins and stolen cars were no longer committed primarily by teenagers for the first time in the past five years.
Homicides decreased by 27.6 percent, while crimes and attacks against persons decreased by 0.2 percent.
But a youth advocate accused the LNP government of using numbers to push its agenda.
Youth Advocacy Center chief executive Katherine Hayes said the latest figures showed an “alarming” 15.5 per cent increase in rape and attempted rape offences, with all sexual offenses rising by 4.9 per cent.
Ms Hayes told AAP it was pleasing that the number of young offenders had shown a steady downward trend since 2014, reaching a 10-year low.
But he objected to the government tying the reductions to “adult crime, adult time” laws because crimes committed by children make up less than 20 percent of the total.
“So the overall decline cannot be attributed solely to children,” Ms Hayes said.
He said tougher laws would not reduce youth crime because children would continue to commit crimes while in unsafe homes and exposed to violence.
Queensland recently added 12 new offenses under expanded “adult crime, adult time” laws, bringing the total to 45.
Victoria announced plans to introduce similar laws in November.
