The criminalisation of children and young people at the intersection of poverty, race, gender and gender identity: A public document analysis

Queensland’s youth justice system is a state-wide statutory system that straddles the broader criminal justice and child welfare systems. It is part of the overall criminal justice system, which is responsible for community safety (CYJMA, 2018b; McMillan & Davis, 2016). The history of youth justice in Australia documents the constant reviews, amendments and reforms to legislation, policy, and practice (Alder & Wundersitz, 2020). This continual process is attributed to the consequences of the complexity of objectives of youth justice which have shifted between and attempted to reconcile two apparent competing agendas, one to punish children and young people for offending behaviour whilst at the same time acknowledging the implication of their particular age status and attending to their welfare needs.
The Queensland youth justice system alone cannot be disentangled from laws, policies, institutions, and practices that provide processing of children and young people who have committed, or suspected of having committed, an offence (McMillan & Davis, 2016). It works closely with a range of stakeholders and across disciplines to address offending behaviour, meet the health and wellbeing, housing, employment and education rights of children and young people, and respond to their broader needs. The laws and procedures set out in the Children’s Court Act 1992 (Queensland Government, 1992a) and the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Queensland Government, 1992c) deal with children and young people who are suspected or found guilty of committing an offence.