‘Adult Time, Adult Crime’ and the First Fleet
On 26 October 2024, Queensland’s Liberal National Party went to the state election running largely on a platform of solving youth crime by delivering harsher penalties for young people, captured in the slogan ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time.’
They won. They argued, without evidence, that QLD was in the midst of a youth crime crisis and that strong action was required. David Crisafulli, party leader stated that ‘expanding Adult Crime, Adult Time was the next major step in restoring community safety.’ The expanded laws were introduced to parliament on 1 April 2025 and are now law.
Young offenders now face the same maximum and mandatory penalties as adult offenders.
The principle of detention as a last resort has been removed from the Youth Justice Act.
The laws were developed following the recommendations of the government’s Expert Legal Panel appointed in February. The panel does not include a criminologist.
Criminologists universally oppose the Queensland changes based on the overwhelming evidence that harsher penalties do not reduce youth crime rates.
The First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove in early 1788, carrying an estimated 775 convicts, alongside a similar number of crew, soldiers and family members. Of the 11 ships in the fleet six were allocated to convicts. Roughly 200 of the convicts were women.
The average age of First Fleet convicts was about 27 but there were also a few child convicts on board. The youngest of these was an orphan, John Hudson, who was 13 years old at the time and had been sentenced to 7 years Transportation for theft.
Travelling on the Lady Penrhyn, an overcrowded ship allocated entirely to women convicts, was 13 year old Elizabeth Hayward. She had been sentenced in the Old Bailey the previous year to 7 years transportation for stealing a linen gown and a silk bonnet from her employer.
Most of the convicts had committed petty crimes, only a few were considered dangerous criminals.
At the time of the first fleet there was no special treatment for children. They were treated the same as adults in the courts. In Britain, children as young as seven were charged. And just like adults, children were tried, imprisoned, transported and even sentenced to hanging.
Adult crime, Adult time.
Throughout its history, the Australian colony has predominantly followed the Justice practices and trends of Britain. in the early days of Australia’s colony, child offenders were imprisoned equally alongside adult offenders. Many more child convicts arrived on subsequent ships during the 80 years of penal transportation to Australia.
Things started to change in Britain in 1847 with the passing of the Juvenile Offenders Act which for the first time made the distinction between adults and children when considering justice matters. The notion of ‘reform’ for wayward children was established with the rapid rise in the creation of reformatory schools for re-education.
From around 1850 Australia followed suit. Although this change wasn’t without its issues, especially for Aboriginal children, separate justice responses for young people have been part of the justice landscape ever since.
Queensland has now turned back the clock 175 years.
Queensland, you are going the Wrong Way.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-13/criminologists-debunk-youth-crime-crisis-claims/104445432
https://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/a-fresh-start-for-qld-adult-crime-adult-time.aspx
https://mhnsw.au/stories/first-fleet-ships/john-hudson/
https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/child-convicts-australia/
https://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/convicts/elizabeth-haywood/
https://guides.sl.nsw.gov.au/convicts-bound-for-australia/first_fleet
https://www.beyondyouthcustody.net/policy/youth-justice-timeline/
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/victorian-children-in-trouble/
https://www.education-uk.org/documents/acts/1854-youthful-offenders-act.html