I need you to stand up with me.
I have heard loud and clear from our community that the revolving door of criminals getting bail and committing further crimes must end.
This week, the Crisafulli Government introduced the Breach Bail, Go to Jail and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 to Parliament delivering on our commitment to strengthen Queensland’s bail laws.
This is the next stage of Adult Crime, Adult Time and these reforms will deliver the strongest bail laws in the country.
Here are the main things I want you to know about the reforms the LNP Crisafulli State Government are putting forward.
Mandatory Minimum Sentences
Under the reforms, serious repeat offenders who commit another serious offence while on bail will face a new offence carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment, to be served entirely in custody.
For youth offenders
This is any Adult Crime, Adult Time offence
For adult offenders
A serious offence includes all Adult Crime, Adult Time offences, coercive control and Daniel’s Law child sexual offences- because paedophiles and child sexual predators have no place in our community and must face serious consequences for the harm they cause.
That means child sexual offenders will face a much higher bar to get bail. They will have to show why their detention is not justified and give police or the court a high degree of confidence that they will not commit another serious offence while on bail.
Because when it comes to child sexual predators, the community deserves to be protected first.
High Degree of Confidence Test
We are also strengthening the bail threshold for serious offenders by introducing a new “high degree of confidence” test. Under the test, police or a court must refuse bail unless satisfied to a high degree of confidence that the offender will not commit another serious offence while on bail.
If you’ve committed a serious offence, you should have to prove why you deserve to be back in the community.
Under these reforms, offenders will have to show why their detention is not justified and satisfy police or the court to a high degree of confidence that they won’t commit another serious offence while on bail.
Because bail should not be a revolving door. If you want the privilege of being released into the community, you need to prove you can be trusted with it.
How we got here
Queensland’s youth crime crisis didn’t happen overnight. It was the result of a decade of decisions by the former Labor Government.
For ten years, the rights of offenders were too often put ahead of the rights of victims and the safety of our communities.
- Labor abolished breach of bail as an offence, removed important consequences for repeat offending and introduced legislation making detention a last resort for youth criminals, which has created a generation of serious repeat, youth offenders in Far North Queensland.
- At the same time, youth offending soared. Youth offences increased by 98%, victims of crime increased by 193%, and car theft rose by 91%.
- And the system wasn’t doing enough to stop the cycle. 96% of young people released from detention went on to reoffend within 12 months, while one in five had no rehabilitation program in place.
- There were fewer police, weak systems for identifying those at risk of reoffending, and even the Children’s Court was closed to victims, families and the media.
- This is how we got here.
And that’s why under the LNP Crisafulli Government we’re changing course stronger laws, more police, better rehabilitation and early intervention, and putting victims and community safety back at the centre of our justice system.
Here in Far North Queensland, I’ve been speaking with our community and our police, and the message is clear: people want stronger laws and real consequences for serious repeat offenders.
I’ve heard directly about the frustration caused by more than 50 serious repeat offenders in our region, and I’m proud to support these reforms. If someone is repeatedly offending, they shouldn’t simply be back on our streets on bail.
We need laws that put the safety of FNQ families first and that’s exactly what these reforms are designed to do.
We know there’s a long way to go, but we are continuing to deliver on our promise to restore safety where we live, and strengthening our bail laws is the next step.
Here is where I need your help!
Submissions are now open from the Parliamentary Committee to have your say on the Breach Bail, Go to Jail and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026.
There are a very loud cohort of people who don’t want these laws, they put in submissions, come to committee hearings, and share their views online and in the media.
If our community supports this new legislation you need to tell the committee.
Share your views, your story, and turn up in person or just submit an online submission
Learn more: Committee Details | Queensland Parliament
Make a submission: Breach Bail, Go to Jail and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026
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