Youth Justice Act 1992

This Act may be cited as the Youth Justice Act 1992.

The principal objectives of this Act are—

to establish the basis for the administration of juvenile justice; and

to establish a code for dealing with children who have, or are alleged to have, committed offences; and

to provide for the jurisdiction and proceedings of courts dealing with children; and

to ensure that courts that deal with children who have committed offences deal with them according to principles established under this Act; and

to recognise the importance of families of children and communities, in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, in the provision of services designed to—

rehabilitate children who commit offences; and

reintegrate children who commit offences into the community.

Schedule 1 sets out a charter of youth justice principles.

The principles underlie the operation of this Act.

The dictionary in schedule 4 defines particular words used in this Act.

A note in the text of this Act is part of the Act.

In this Act, criminal history, of a child, means—

each caution administered to the child for an offence; and

each finding of guilt against the child for an offence, other than a finding of guilt that is set aside or quashed; and

each restorative justice agreement made by the child for an offence; and

all decisions, findings and orders, other than interim orders, made, and actions taken, by a court, Childrens Court judge, Childrens Court magistrate or other judicial officer—

under section 245, 246 or 246A in relation to the child’s contravention of a community based order; or

under section 247 on an application made by the child or the chief executive in relation to a community based order made against the child; or

under section 252D, 252E or 252F in relation to the child’s contravention of a supervised release order.

If a child fails to comply with a restorative justice agreement that forms part of the child’s criminal history, the child’s criminal history also includes any action taken by a police officer under section 24(3).

This section applies despite the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986.

In this section—action includes a decision to take no further action.child—

in relation to a child against whom a community based order has been made, see section 236; and

for a child on release from detention under a supervised release order, see section 252A.

interim order means an order made by—

a magistrate under section 252D(5); or

a court under 252E(3)(c) or (4).

In this Act, mention of a police officer starting a proceeding against a child for an offence includes—

obtaining a warrant for the arrest of a child on a charge for an offence; and

arresting a child for an offence without a warrant.

Subject to subsection (2), in this Act serious offence means—

a life offence; or

an offence of a type that, if committed by an adult, would make the adult liable to imprisonment for 14 years or more.

An offence is not a serious offence if—

it is a relevant offence under the Criminal Code, section 552BA; orEditor’s note—Criminal Code, section 552BA (Charges of indictable offences that must be heard and decided summarily)

it is an offence that is the subject of a charge to which the Criminal Code, section 552A or 552B applies; orEditor’s note—Criminal Code, section 552A (Charges of indictable offences that must be heard and decided summarily on prosecution election) or 552B (Charges of indictable offences that must be heard and decided summarily unless defendant elects for jury trial)

under the Drugs Misuse Act 1986, section 13, proceedings for a charge for the offence may be taken summarily; orEditor’s note—Drugs Misuse Act 1986, section 13 (Certain offences may be dealt with summarily)

under the Drugs Misuse Act 1986, section 14, proceedings for a charge for the offence may be taken summarily.

Note—Proceedings for a charge for an offence may not be taken summarily under section 14 if the prosecution allegations include an allegation as to a commercial purpose.

Editor’s note—Drugs Misuse Act 1986, section 14 (Other offences that may be dealt with summarily if no commercial purpose alleged)

If it is necessary for the purposes of subsection (2) to have reference to the table of excluded offences included in the Criminal Code, section 552BB, a reference in that table to the circumstance that the offender does not plead guilty to an offence is taken to be a reference to a child not admitting to committing the offence.

For the purpose of this section, the type of an offence includes the circumstances in which it is committed.

In this Act, mention of the court that made a particular order on sentence includes, if the order was made by—

the Supreme Court—any sittings of the Supreme Court in its criminal jurisdiction at any place in Queensland; or

the District Court—any sittings of the District Court in its criminal jurisdiction at any place in Queensland; or

a Childrens Court judge—any sittings of a Childrens Court judge at any place in Queensland; or

a Magistrates Court—any Magistrates Court sitting at any place in Queensland; or

a Childrens Court magistrate—any Childrens Court magistrate sitting at any place in Queensland.

Subsection (1) applies even though the court is not constituted by the same judicial officer who made the order originally.

This division has no effect on—

the charging of a child under the Justices Act 1886, section 42(1A); or

a proceeding on an indictment.

Unless otherwise provided under this division, a police officer, before starting a proceeding against a child for an offence other than a serious offence, must first consider whether in all the circumstances it would be more appropriate to do 1 of the following—

to take no action;

to administer a caution to the child;

to refer the offence to the chief executive for a restorative justice process;

if the offence is a minor drugs offence and the child may be offered a drug diversion warning or the opportunity to participate in a drug diversion assessment program under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, chapter 14, part 4, division 5—to offer the child the warning or opportunity in accordance with that division;

if the offence is a graffiti offence and the child may be offered an opportunity to attend a graffiti removal program under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 379A—to offer the child that opportunity in accordance with that section.

Note—Because of section 134, a police officer must consider offering the same opportunities for diversion from the court system as apply to a child to a person who committed an offence as a child but is now an adult.

The circumstances to which the police officer must have regard include—

the circumstances of the alleged offence; and

the child’s criminal history and, if the child has been in any other way dealt with for an offence under any Act, the other dealings.

If necessary, the police officer must delay starting the proceeding in order to comply with a requirement under subsection (1) or (2).

If, on complying with subsections (1) and (2), the police officer considers it would be more appropriate to act as mentioned in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), then the police officer must do so.

If, on complying with subsections (1) and (2), the police officer considers it would not be more appropriate to act as mentioned in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), the police officer may start a proceeding against the child for the offence.

The police officer may take the action mentioned in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) or (e) even though—

action of that kind has been taken in relation to the child on a previous occasion; or

a proceeding against the child for another offence has already been started or has ended.

Subsection (1) does not prevent a police officer from taking the action mentioned in subsection (1)(a) to (c) for a serious offence.

If the police officer decides to act as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) in relation to a minor drugs offence, the minor drugs matter the subject of the minor drugs offence is forfeited to the State.

Note—The Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, chapter 14, part 4, division 5 provides for forfeiting a minor drugs matter on agreeing to an offer under that division.

In this section—minor drugs matter see the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, schedule 6.minor drugs offence see the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, section 378B.

A police officer starting a proceeding against a child for an offence, other than a serious offence, must start the proceeding by way of complaint and summons or notice to appear, unless otherwise provided under this Act.