Media statement

During Youth Week, the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council is sharing facts about the sentencing of children.

Pulled from two recently released resources, the Guide to the Sentencing of children in Queensland (PDF, 1.3 MB) and Kids in court: the sentencing of children in Queensland (PDF, 6.1 MB), the Council hopes to share insights into the complex world of sentencing.

Council chair, and retired judge, John Robertson said “these are the first publicly available resources of their kind, specifically focused on the sentencing of children in Queensland.”

Mr Robertson said the two resources work hand-in-hand to provide people with the bigger picture about the sentencing of children in Queensland.

“We have the Kids in Court report telling us the statistics on how kids are sentenced in court while the Guide to the sentencing of children in Queensland explains the principles of how the courts sentence children.”

Mr Robertson acknowledged there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about the sentencing of children.

“Sentencing is a complex and serious process – especially when you’re dealing with the future of a child,” Mr Robertson said.

“It is our hope that these resources will shed some light on sentencing children in Queensland and help break down some of the community’s misconceptions.

“Young people are our future – we need to ensure those children who end up before our courts have the opportunity to be supported in choosing different pathways.”

Media notes

Contact: Hayley Carter

Phone: 0459 887 077

Email: media@sentencingcouncil.qld.gov.au