Arabic version: نقابة تدعو إلى عقوبات سجن إلزامية للاعتداء على الشرطة
According to ABC News, the Queensland Police Union is calling for mandatory minimum sentences for serious assaults on police after an alleged attack in Mount Isa left an officer requiring hospital treatment.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said a male officer was taken to hospital after he and two colleagues were allegedly involved in an altercation in the city at about 2:30am on October 30. Two men, aged 26 and 24, have been charged over the alleged assault and are due to face court. Union president Shane Prior said the injured officer suffered injuries to his cheekbone and upper jaw, along with a deep laceration around his lip and nose.
Mr Prior said reforms were needed to better protect officers and urged the attorney-general to begin drafting changes. He said people who assault police should be imprisoned, arguing that approach met community expectations. Mandatory minimum sentencing reforms for serious assaults on emergency workers had previously been referred to the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council by former attorney-general Yvette D’Ath. Its report found that more than 90 per cent of serious assaults on emergency workers examined over the previous decade resulted in a custodial sentence.
Queensland Sentencing Board data from 2025 showed aggravated serious assaults on police had increased. Adult sentencing matters rose from 220 in the 2019-20 financial year to 360 in the last financial year. Between 2020 and 2025, 48 per cent of sentenced matters involving serious assault on police resulted in imprisonment, while 20 per cent were wholly suspended.
Griffith University senior law lecturer Simon McKenzie said mandatory minimum penalties would not deter assaults and could increase prison populations while making the justice system less efficient. Attorney-General Deb Frecklington did not rule out similar laws being considered, saying the government would continue to strengthen laws where required. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws for bail breaches, passed last month, take effect at the end of this month.
