Moves to broaden the definition of murder in Queensland could have “dire and unintended consequences” for women who kill their abusive or violent partners, or for parents who “leave the pool gate open”, lawyers have warned.

The state government introduced new laws in February that would change the definition of murder, following media and public outrage after a string of cases in which child killers were convicted of manslaughter and received relatively light prison sentences.

A review by the state’s sentencing advisory council last year found that many of those cases involved difficulties, such as determining the cause of death (particularly in very young children), a lack of witnesses and in establishing clear intent.

“These complexities help to explain why child homicide cases are so different to homicide cases involving adult victims,” the review concluded.





When the Queensland government drafted new laws, it went beyond the recommendations of the sentencing advisory council and proposed that the definition of murder be expanded to include death caused by “reckless indifference to life”.



In announcing the bill, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said: “We want to see stronger sentences imposed when people take the lives of our most vulnerable – children, the elderly and the disabled.”

But legal and civil liberties bodies say the expanded definition could work contrary to that aim, including in circumstances where the victim has a history of violence or abuse towards the offender.

The chief executive of the Women’s Legal Service Queensland, Angela Lynch, said the new definition of murder was dangerous when combined with mandatory sentencing in Queensland. The state has mandatory life sentences and mandatory minimum non-parole periods for murder.

“When it’s murder in Queensland, it’s 20 years non-parole, there’s no discretion [for judges] to take their circumstances into account,” Lynch said.

“It’s just so dangerous for these particularly vulnerable women.”

The Bar Association of Queensland, in its submission to a government committee scrutinising the new bill, said it would have “profound and undesirable impacts” at both ends of the criminal justice system.

“Members of the association can easily imagine a number of domestic scenarios being caught by the first bill, for example, parents being charged for leaving pool gates open or reversing over their own children on the driveway,” the submission said.

“There are other examples such as driving offences [cases of extreme dangerous driving causing death, which have been charged as manslaughter], gun accidents and various kinds of behaviour affected by alcohol or drugs, which could now be charged as murder.

“The bill will unjustly punish those people who are less culpable.

“In the association’s view, the discretion of sentencing judges and the parole authorities in this state for sentences of murder are already too severely shackled. Indeed, some offences amounting to murder involve more extenuating circumstances than some killings which only amount to manslaughter.”

The Women’s Legal Service, in its submission, raised further concern that the legal defence of self-defence was already “difficult and complex for victims of domestic assault to satisfy”. Women who acted pre-emptively, or not in response to a direct physical threat, might fail to prove self-defence in Queensland, which is the only state that has an “imminence” requirement.

“Years of disadvantage, mistrust of services [and] a lack of services may mean Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women may become self-reliant and choose to fight back and defend themselves, or act pre-emptively out of fear rather than rely on police,” the submission said.

“Many women, especially those who may not present well, will not be able to clearly articulate the impact of the abuse on them or their children.

“[We] are therefore concerned that the expanded definition of murder will likely result in more women who have killed their abusive spouses being charged with murder, rather than manslaughter, and ultimately found guilty.

“Appropriate consideration has not been given to the impact on all murder cases in Queensland, not just those involving children.”