How long is too long to leave a child unattended?

It is a question plenty of parents have pondered at some point.

And now, it is causing concern, confusion and anger across social media — and not for the first time.

An image of a notice bearing the Queensland Police Service insignia has been doing the rounds on Facebook for the past week, telling parents that children under the age of 12 cannot walk or ride to school alone.

But there are a couple of things you need to know before jumping to conclusions.

Is this note a hoax?

No, it's from police and was published in a school newsletter in 2015, but it was not intended as general advice.

The notice was written by a Queensland police officer and published in a school newsletter in 2015. ( Facebook )

It originated in Miles, about 340 kilometres west of Brisbane.

It was written by the Officer in Charge of Miles Police about six months after a six-year-old girl was found walking alone, following a hand-written map to a location "some distance away" she had never visited before.

In that instance a 33-year-old woman was charged with one count of leaving a child under 12 unattended, under the law mentioned above.

A spokesman for Queensland Police Service said the notice was written in response to several incidents of young children, aged five and six years old, walking through the town without supervision.

What does the law actually say?

You'll find it in the Queensland Criminal Code, section 364a, under the title "Leaving a child under 12 unattended":

1. A person who, having the lawful care or charge of a child under 12 years, leaves the child for an unreasonable time without making reasonable provision for the supervision and care of the child during that time commits a misdemeanour. Maximum penalty - 3 years' imprisonment.

2. Whether the time is unreasonable depends on all the relevant circumstances.

How long has it been in the criminal code?

Almost 10 years.

Then attorney-general Kerry Shine's Criminal Code and Other Acts Amendment Bill was passed by State Parliament on October 9, 2008.

The law on leaving a child under 12 unattended was amended in 2008. ( Sharon Mollerus: Flickr )

Under the previous law parents could only be punished if their unattended child was injured or suffered neglect.

"This new offence provides for parents to be charged for not providing sufficient care and supervision for their child, even if they are not injured," Mr Shine said at the time.

What is an "unreasonable time"?

It depends.

Every case is different, according to Queensland Law Society president Christine Smyth.

"To say they [children] cannot walk or ride to school alone … in my view is taking that particular provision a bridge too far," Ms Smyth said.

Ms Smyth said it was unfortunate that subsection 2 of the law, "Whether the time is unreasonable depends on all the relevant circumstances," was omitted from the circulating notice.

"You have to look at the circumstances on a case-by-case basis."

What circumstances are taken into consideration?

It varies from case to case.

Slater + Gordon criminal lawyer Emma Aldersea said while police have the power to charge parents, they are not the judges of the law and will not have the final say.

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"The law is what the statute says, but parents must appreciate that what is reasonable or unreasonable in all the relevant circumstances is an objective test, not a subjective test," Ms Aldersea said.

"The question is whether 'the reasonable person' would think it was okay in all the circumstances. And that will vary from case to case."

"If a person is charged under this law a magistrate will determine if it is reasonable on a case by case basis."

She said considerations for the court will be:

The age and the maturity of the child

The age and the maturity of the child The distance the child is travelling

The distance the child is travelling Has the child been taught the particular route — the child may have walked/ridden this route for two years with their parent before being able to do it alone in order to teach independence

Has the child been taught the particular route — the child may have walked/ridden this route for two years with their parent before being able to do it alone in order to teach independence Timing — if the child is leaving home at 8:00am to arrive and be under the care and supervision of the school shortly after compared to if they leave at 6am and will be unsupervised for a much greater period of time

"There is no blanket rule that kids under 12 cannot walk or ride to school alone," Ms Aldersea said.

"Letting your 11-year-old ride or walk to school alone would probably be objectively fine if you lived close to the school in a quiet neighbourhood, but might not be if you were 10 streets away in the inner city.

"Letting your six-year-old cross the street alone to school probably would not pass the test.

"The police obviously have child safety at the front of their minds in the flyer and while the objective test applies the point is that parents have to ensure proper care is taken of their children at all times."

She wrote more on the subject in a 2013 blog post.

What's the law like in other states?

It varies.

In Victoria you'll find "offence to leave child unattended" under section 494 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005:

A person who has the control or charge of a child must not leave the child without making reasonable provision for the child's supervision and care for a time which is unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case.

It sounds pretty similar to Queensland's law, but the punishment down south is 15 penalty units — or imprisonment for three months.

According to Family and Community Services New South Wales, there is no actual law that states at what age children can be left alone, but the law is clear about the responsibility of parents to look after their children.

There is law however for people who leaves any child or young person in the person's care in a motor vehicle without proper supervision for such period or in such circumstances that:

(a) the child or young person becomes or is likely to become emotionally distressed, or

(b) the child's or young person's health becomes or is likely to become permanently or temporarily impaired, is guilty of an offence.

The maximum penalty is 200 penalty units.