The Queensland Government has unveiled new legislation to strengthen youth bail monitoring, promising tougher laws and expanded GPS tracking to curb youth reoffending across the state.

Introduced to Parliament today, the Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Bill 2025 will make electronic monitoring a permanent feature of the state’s justice system and extend its use to more youth offenders. The government says the reforms are aimed at “restoring safety where you live” by holding young offenders accountable and reducing the number of victims of crime.

Youth Justice and Victim Support Minister Laura Gerber said the measures deliver on the Crisafulli Government’s election commitment to strengthen youth crime laws.

“We promised Queenslanders we would continue to strengthen our youth crime laws, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” Minister Gerber said.
“Under Adult Crime, Adult Time, youth offenders now face serious consequences for their actions, and these reforms are another step to reduce reoffending and victim numbers.”

According to the government, GPS electronic monitoring has been shown to reduce reoffending by up to 24 per cent. The new legislation comes after two earlier Labor government trials, which critics say saw limited results, with only four young offenders fitted with tracking devices during the first year.

Minister Gerber said the new approach would combine tougher laws with early intervention and rehabilitation programs to address both prevention and accountability.

“The Crisafulli Government is cleaning up Labor’s mess and delivering tough youth crime laws alongside early intervention and rehabilitation programs to make Queensland safer,” she said.

The government argues that the former Labor administration weakened Queensland’s youth crime policies by treating detention as a last resort and abolishing breach of bail as an offence — decisions it says contributed to the rise in repeat youth offending.

The expanded GPS monitoring reforms form part of the government’s broader youth justice plan involving additional police resources, community programs, and increased victim support services.