Queensland strips voting rights from prisoners jailed over one year

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Oct, 06:03 · Archive

Queensland has removed voting rights from prisoners sentenced to more than one year, affecting over 2,500 people.

Queensland has changed its voting laws to remove the right to vote from prisoners sentenced to more than one year, affecting over 2,500 people. The Queensland Prisoners Legal Service says this means for the first time more than half of Queensland's almost 11,500 prisoners will be ineligible to vote—just 47 per cent can now vote.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington defended the change, saying 'law breakers shouldn't get to elect our law makers' and arguing it increases respect for the rule of law. However, lawyers groups and civil society organisations dispute whether the change breaches Queensland's human rights act.

Ruimin Gao, acting director of the Queensland Prisoners Legal Service, raised concerns that 'one-year terms of imprisonment may not necessarily equate to serious offences'. Convictions for unlawful assembly, carrying prohibited items in public or trespass can now result in losing voting rights. She noted Queensland's prison population has grown by 50 per cent in the past decade, with First Nations prisoners doubling, resulting in disproportionate loss of voting rights for Indigenous Australians.

Voting thresholds for prisoners vary across Australia. Queensland's one-year cut-off matches New South Wales and Western Australia, while Tasmania, the Northern Territory and federal elections allow prisoners serving up to three years to vote.

How it is being reported

• Prisoners lose their liberty and their right to voteOne state is making it harder for prisoners to vote, but an array of challenges - literacy, enrolment and a feeling of powerlessness - also stops engagement.Perth Now · 13 Oct, 05:34
• Prisoners lose their liberty and their right to voteOne state is making it harder for prisoners to vote, but an array of challenges - literacy, enrolment and a feeling of powerlessness - also stops engagement.The West Australian · 13 Oct, 05:33

In this story: Queensland · Deb Frecklington · Ruimin Gao · Queensland Prisoners Legal Service · Castan Centre for Human Rights Law · Indigenous Australians

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem