Youth crime is emerging as a key Queensland election battleground, with the Liberal National Party pledging to open dedicated deterrence schools for youths.
Opposition leader David Crisafulli has pitched opening two "youth justice" schools if it wins the October 26 election, costing taxpayers $40 million, despite the party's "adult time for adult crime" policy.
But the Labor government says the early intervention initiative is already in place and is at risk of cuts if the opposition is elected.
The specialist schools would work exclusively with high-risk teen offenders on community service orders, police cautions, or bail to minimise the risk of reoffending and steer the kids away from a life of crime.
“These children need discipline, support, education, and structure, which is exactly what the LNP will provide through the youth justice schools," Mr Crisafulli said on Monday.
It follows the LNP's hardline stance on youth crime, with the party committing to an "adult time for adult crime" policy to implement harsher sentences for serious offences.
The proposed schools would offer supervision for more than 12 hours a day, five days a week with a curriculum focusing on crime diversion.
They would also offer individual dedicated case management, one-on-one mentoring, family support and parental coaching.
Premier Steven Miles told a peak social services body the LNP's crime policy was their ticket to governing.
"They've been very explicit that they see their path to victory is one based on talking about youth crime, and in particular, adult sentences for youth offenders. That's that's their number one policy," he said on Monday.
Not-for-profit organisation Ohana for Youth, which already has two facilities to reconnect teenagers with education and employment, would run the LNP's proposed schools.
If the pilot is successful, the LNP will open up the program to additional operators for more schools across the state.
Mr Miles said his government had already introduced 50 flexible learning facilities offering deterrence education with another 25 on the way.
He said the LNP's proposition to build two assumed that 23 of the 25 proposed by his government would be cut.
The premier believed early intervention was key in cracking down on repeat youth offending.
"You look at a serious repeat offender and think we should have intervened when they started offending ... that's what these schools are all about," he said.
Youth crime is touted as one of the key election battlegrounds for both parties with Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing Queensland's young offender population increased six per cent to 10,878 last year.
Though Queensland Police data showed child offender rates had dropped by 18 per cent since 2012/2013.
