Parliamentary update

On Wednesday, 10 December 2025, the Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Bill 2025 was introduced into Parliament and referred to the Education, Arts and Communities Committee for detailed consideration.

The Explanatory Notes outline the purposes of the Bill to be:

• make electronic monitoring as a condition of youth bail a permanent measure under the Youth Justice Act 1992
• expand the availability of electronic monitoring statewide, except where a child resides in an area without the necessary support services
• remove existing eligibility criteria requiring a child to be at least 15 years old, charged with a prescribed indictable offence, and previously charged with certain offences
• amend the matters a court must consider when determining whether an electronic monitoring condition is appropriate
• implement changes arising from the 2025 review of the electronic monitoring trial, tabled by the Minister on 10 December 2025

Submissions to the Committee are invited, with the closing date to be announced. The Committee is scheduled to table its report on Friday, 6 February 2026. QLS intends to respond to this Bill reinforcing our longstanding position that electronic monitoring devices should not be applied broadly to youth offenders and present numerous practical challenges, interferes significantly with rights to privacy, risks stigmatising and alienating youth offenders from their community and does not address the underlying drivers of youth offending.

On Thursday, 11 December 2025 the Electoral Laws (Restoring Electoral Fairness) Amendment Bill 2025 was introduced and referred to the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee for detailed consideration.   

The Explanatory Notes outline the purposes of the Bill to be:

• prohibit persons serving sentences of imprisonment or detention of one year or more from voting in State elections, referendums and local government elections
• apply existing caps on political donations for State elections to financial years
• remove the ban on political donations from property developers and related industry bodies for State elections, and target the ban to local government elections only
• allow loans from financial institutions to be used for electoral expenditure for State elections
• enhance the independence of registered political parties to conduct preselection ballots without oversight of the Electoral Commission of Queensland

Submission to the Committee close on Friday, 2 January 2025 with the Committee due to table their report on Friday, 6 February 2025.

The Health Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 2025 was introduced on 14 October 2025 and passed on 9 December 2025. For more information about the Bill and the Committee Inquiry process, please read QLS Proctor.

QLS contributed to the inquiry through a formal submission and an appearance before the Committee, represented by QLS Legal Policy Manager Wendy Devine, Industrial Law Committee member Rohan Tate, and QLS Principal Policy Solicitor Kate Brodnik.

QLS supported the proposed amendments to the Private Health Facilities Act 1999, the Transplant and Anatomy Act 1979, and the related amendment to the Public Health Act 2005. However, QLS raised concerns about amendments enabling the Governor‑in‑Council to remove board members and the CEOs of Health and Wellbeing Queensland and the Queensland Pharmacy Business Ownership Council with or without grounds.

QLS cautioned  these provisions fail to afford affected office holders natural justice and procedural fairness and are inherently unfair as they would apply retrospectively to individuals who accepted their roles under different contractual expectations.

On 26 August 2025, the Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment Bill 2025 was introduced into the Queensland Parliament and referred to the Primary Industries and Resources Committee for detailed consideration. The Bill was passed on 10 December 2025.

The Bill amends the Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009 (GGS Act) to:

• Enable Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation (CTSCo), the former holder of the expired GHG exploration permit EPQ10, to convert a GHG well on EPQ10 into a water supply bore
• Allow ownership of the converted bore to be transferred to the landholder on whose property it is located
• Streamline the development approval and water licensing processes for landholders receiving a converted bore

For more information on the Bill and the Committee inquiry process, please visit the Committee webpage.

The Energy Roadmap Amendment Bill 2025 was introduced on 16 October 2025 and passed with amendments on 10 December 2025. The amendments in cabinet repeal the Forest Wind Farm Development Act 2020 (FWFD Act), the Land Act 1994 and the Forestry Act 1959 to give full effect to the repeal of the FWFD Act across the statute book.

The repeal follows a re‑evaluation of the Forest Wind Farm project by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, prompted by a material change in the proponent within the Forest Wind Holdings joint venture. The reassessment concluded the project should no longer proceed under the Exclusive Transactions framework. As a result, the government determined the enabling legislation was no longer required and moved to repeal it through the amendments in cabinet.

For more details on the Bill and the Committee inquiry process, please read QLS Proctor

The Defamation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 was introduced on 14 October 2025 and passed on 11 December 2025.

The amendments clarify the double jeopardy exception framework by ensuring that police and prosecutors are deemed to have exercised reasonable diligence even when relying on forensic advice or testing from Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services or Forensic Science Queensland, addressing issues from past deficient DNA practices. The amendments also included changes tothe Evidence Act 1977 to allow tendency and coincidence evidence to be adduced in committal proceedings without applying the usual admissibility rules, leaving those determinations for the trial stage.

Visit QLS Proctor to learn more about the Bill and its implications.