QCCL Opposes Change to Public Drunkenness Law
QCCL President Michael Cope said today, “QCCL calls upon the government to reject reactionary proposals to reinstate the offence of public drunkenness.”
The Police Minister, Mr Purdie is quoted as saying the police are saying that they now struggle in some instances, to take appropriate action. Another MP says the change is significantly impacting livability in our beautiful part of the world[1].
“Too often in the history of this State public policy has been made on the basis of claims by the Police and the Police Union in particular. Where is the evidence for the claims of the Minister? The government cannot and should not act upon anecdotal evidence. If it is serious about this, it must produce a serious piece of social scientific research to support its position”
The position of the government is contradicted by experience in other States. NSW, Tasmania and the ACT are examples of successfully implemented models to decriminalise public drunkenness whereby police retain the power to remove intoxicated persons from public places and take them to a safe place while they recover.
Over 30 years ago, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody called for the decriminalisation of this offence to reduce the numbers of Indigenous peoples coming into contact with the Australian criminal justice system.
Decriminalisation of public drunkenness subsequently occurred in most Australian states between 1974 and 1990, with Victoria decriminalising its offence in February 2021. Queensland was the last state to have a criminal offence of public drunkenness.
The offence of public drunkenness effectively criminalises poverty and has a disparate application to Indigenous peoples[2]. Research shows that a majority of deaths in police cells occur to individuals detained for drunkenness.
“Inconvenience or offence, as opposed to violence, experienced by some people cannot justify a law which needlessly exposes some of the most disadvantaged people in our community to the loss of liberty and the heightened risk of serious injury or death” said Mr Cope
For further information contact Michael Cope President QCCL on 07 3223 5939 during office hours and at all times on 0432 847 154
13 June 2025
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/12/queensland-weighs-return-to-public-drunkenness-public-urination-laws-ntwnfb?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
[2] A 2022 parliamentary report found more than 47% of people charged with public intoxication in Queensland were Indigenous, 10 times more than the proportion of the state’s overall population of 4.6%.