False

Committee's Report

The committee tabled its Report No. 42, 57th Parliament - Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) Bill 2022 on 24 February 2023. The Bill was passed with amendment by the Queensland Parliament on 23 May 2023.

ABOUT THE BILL

On 1 December 2022 the Hon Shannon Fentiman MP, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence introduced the Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) Bill 2022 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee for detailed consideration and report by 24 February 2023.

View: Explanatory speech 
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes
View: Statement of compatibility 

Objectives of the Bill 

The purpose of the Bill, as set out in the explanatory notes, is to facilitate visits by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (the Subcommittee) to places of detention in Queensland. 

The Subcommittee has the ability to conduct visits to Australia under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). 

The Commonwealth Government ratified OPCAT on 21 December 2017. 

OPCAT aims to prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by establishing a two-part system of regular visits to places where persons are deprived of their liberty. OPCAT requires ratifying state parties to:  

• accept periodic visits by the Subcommittee to places of detention
• establish a domestic national preventive mechanism (NPM) to conduct regular visits to places of detention.

The Subcommittee is established under Article 2 of OPCAT and has a mandate to visit places of detention and make recommendations to state parties concerning the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 

To enable the Subcommittee to fulfil its mandate, state parties that ratify OPCAT undertake to provide the Subcommittee with: 

• unrestricted access to all places of detention and their installations and facilities, subject to particular grounds for objecting to a visit
• unrestricted access to all information concerning the number of persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention, and the number and location of places of detention
• unrestricted access to all information referring to the treatment of those persons and conditions of detention
• the ability to privately interview persons deprived of their liberty and any other person the Subcommittee believes may supply relevant information
• the liberty to choose the places it wants to visit and persons it wants to interview.

The Bill provides a consistent framework to provide the Subcommittee with access to places of detention in Queensland, and information to assist the Subcommittee to fulfil its mandate under OPCAT. The Bill will also remove legislative barriers that restrict physical access to inpatient units of authorised mental health services under the Mental Health Act 2016 or to the forensic disability service under the Forensic Disability Act 2011.

Further information

Further information including written briefings from the department, the response to submissions, transcripts from proceedings and answers to questions taken on notice are under the Related Publications tab.

timeline