- The Crisafulli Government is delivering significant drug reform after Labor's decade of decline to restore safety where you live.
- The new framework will restore consequences for actions for repeat drug offenders.
- The Crisafulli Government is making Queensland safer and delivering more police to the frontline to fight Labor's Youth Crime Crisis.
The Crisafulli Government is restoring consequences for dangerous drug offences to make Queensland safer, by introducing tough new laws after Labor's failed diversion scheme gave offenders multiple chances without penalties.
Under Labor's watered-down changes in 2024, offenders could receive a warning and multiple diversion opportunities – and, when combined with court diversion - be caught with dangerous drugs up to five times before facing meaningful consequences.
The Expanding Adult Crime, Adult Time and Taking a Strong Stance on Drugs and Antisocial Behaviour Bill 2026, to be introduced to Parliament this week, will deliver the new Illicit Drug Enforcement and Diversion Framework (IDEDF) that prioritises community safety while ensuring first-time, low-risk offenders have access to health-based intervention.
The Crisafulli Government's reforms will limit diversion to a single opportunity, ensuring repeat offenders face real consequences while still offering a pathway to rehabilitation for those who need it most.
The new framework will:
- Limit drug diversion to a single opportunity for eligible first-time offenders
- Introduce on-the-spot fines or criminal charges for repeat offenders
- Maintain health-based diversion pathways to break the cycle of addiction early
- Give police stronger powers and discretion to respond to drug offending
- Improve efficiency for frontline officers and reduce pressure on the courts
These reforms are part of the Crisafulli Government's plan to make Queensland safer after a decade of Labor's weak laws which created the Youth Crime Crisis, with more police on the front line and restoring consequences for actions.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie said the reforms would give police the powers they need to crackdown on drug offending and the organised crime networks that profit from it.
"Labor's botched diversion scheme allowed offenders multiple chances and sent the wrong message that drug use carried no consequences," Minister Purdie said.
"Dangerous drugs fuel crime, destroy lives and strengthen organised crime syndicates, and the Crisafulli Government is taking decisive action to stop this, by backing police with the laws they need to restore safety after Labor's decade of decline.
"These reforms send a clear message that there is no safe way to take dangerous drugs as we continue to crackdown on this gateway to addiction and criminal offending."
The Illicit Drug Enforcement and Diversion Framework (IDEDF) will allow eligible adults and children in possession of small quantities of cannabis to be offered a single diversion opportunity.
For other minor drug offences, police will have the power to issue on-the-spot fines, with offenders able to choose to complete a drug diversion program instead of paying the fine.
Repeat offenders and those involved in more serious drug activity will face stronger enforcement action, including criminal charges.
