Residents caught carrying a gram of heroin, ice or cocaine will be given three chances before they are charged under sweeping changes to Queensland law.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was set to announce the change later this week before details were leaked early in an email sent by a senior police officer.
The reform will come into effect next year and include stricter penalties for drug traffickers, with the maximum sentence of 25 years increased to life.
Residents carrying a small amount of illicit drugs will be handed a warning by police the first time officers catch them.
They will then be offered a chance to take part in a drug diversionary program the second and third time police catch them.
Residents caught carrying a gram of heroin, ice or cocaine will be given three chances before they are charged under sweeping changes to Queensland law (stock image)
Residents will only be handed a notice to appear in court on a charge of possession the fourth time they are found with the small quantity of drugs on them.
The three-strike rule will be among the most relaxed in the country with Victoria offering fewer chances before threatening a person with a conviction.
The one gram limit is more generous than other states with a small quantity defined as a quarter of the weight in NSW.
The reform puts Queensland only behind South Australia and the ACT.
The ACT will decriminalise possession later this year while South Australia accepts possession of up to two grams and has unlimited offers for diversionary programs.
Ms Palaszczuk and her cabinet have been working on the reforms with police in a united effort to tackle youth crime and relieve the workload of officers.
Acting deputy police commissioner Mark Wheeler sent an email to thousands of staff announcing the changes before they were leaked to the public, The Australian reported
‘The bill enhances the program available to police to effectively deal with minor drug offences, diverting minor offenders away from the criminal justice system through an evidence-based tired health response,’ the email read.
The message has since been recalled with Police Minister Mark Ryan saying the police force had asked for the reforms.
All have confirmed this approach is a win-win – better community safety outcomes and better use of police and court resources,’ he said.
The move comes as the Palaszczuk government attempts to tackle a growing youth crime wave that has seen cars stolen and homes broken into across Townsville, Cairns and Mount Isa.
Breach of bail will again become a standalone offence for young people in Queensland after an about-face by the state government.
Ms Palaszczuk and her cabinet have been working on the reforms with police in a united effort to tackle youth crime and relieve the workload of officers (stock image)
Queensland cabinet ministers have consistently rejected the measure favoured by the opposition to curb youth crime, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk now says it will be reintroduced.
Ms Palaszczuk’s Labor government removed breach of bail as an offence for children in 2015.
The move to reinstate it had come after listening to the community, she said, and is ‘in the spirit of bipartisanship’.
‘The public has been talking about this, and this is a listening government,’ Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday.
Asked if the move was simply symbolic, the premier said the legislation to be introduced to state parliament on Tuesday would clarify details.
The government has previously passed laws to reverse the presumption of bail for serious repeat offenders.
In December, Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard said the last time breach of bail was a crime it didn’t work, and the existing presumption against bail was more effective.
As it stands, magistrates take bail status as a factor that carries weight when deciding on penalties if a young person reoffends.
The change will make the failure to adhere to bail conditions a separate offence, and advocacy organisations are concerned that means more children being locked up before going on to reoffend.
‘All this will accomplish is a further increase in the number of children in prison at enormous cost to taxpayers and with devastating impact on those children’s life trajectories,’ executive director of the Justice Reform Initiative Mindy Sotiri said in a statement.
‘Increasing the use of imprisonment for children, and widening the criminal justice system net so that more children end up locked up, is going to increase the risk of reoffending.’
