Crim code adequate to deal with schools violence: Welford

The Queensland Government says creating specific laws against violence in schools would make it harder to prosecute offenders.

The Opposition says Queensland should adopt similar laws to those in New South Wales, under which five teenagers have been charged following the attack of a number of students at a western Sydney school on Monday.

Education Minister Rod Welford says students and teachers are already protected by the Queensland Criminal Code.

"We haven't had to deal with issues of riots in our schools as they have in New South Wales," he said.

"But I can certainly say that our criminal code, which New South Wales doesn't have, is more than adequate to deal with offences of violence by students or anyone else within school grounds."

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DPP urges tougher child identity laws
Justice Action believes that naming offenders and in particular child offenders is ‘destructive’. It will reduce the likelihood of general deterrence and shift the focus, blame and attention to the destructive notion that an individual simply has bad genes or even a bad family. Crime and society are more complex. In our view, given a constructive lifestyle, the opportunity to form positive mentoring relationships and an equal opportunity to learn about life, will prevent more crime and make others more aware of not being offensive. Hence, as a general deterrent we should not remove the prohibition on the publication of names of children involved in criminal proceedings.