Queensland children could be pleading guilty to offences they didn't commit or being imprisoned for first-time, low-level offences under the state's youth justice laws, a review has highlighted.
However, a government-commissioned report on the laws has found they're working as intended.
The changes, passed in April 2021, allow courts to fit juvenile offenders with GPS trackers and remove the presumption of bail for children caught committing serious offences while already on conditional release.
The controversial laws target about 400 serious, repeat offenders, most of whom are Indigenous children.
A review by former police commissioner Bob Atkinson, released on Tuesday night, found the legal changes were improving community safety.
Mr Atkinson said lawyers raised concerns that some children were pleading guilty to crimes they didn't commit or where evidence was inadequate since the laws were passed.
They also warned children may have been imprisoned for first-time, low-level offences "unlikely to warrant a detention order".
"These claims cannot be fully substantiated with data, but data sourced for this review shows the length of time young people spend in watchhouses and on remand has increased since the reforms commenced," Mr Atkison wrote in the report.
"There were concerns that the provisions designed to target serious, repeat youth offenders may be capturing first-time offenders and children who would not fall into the serious repeat-offender category.
"As well as potential negative impacts on young people, this possibility raises impacts for the workloads of court stakeholders including legal advocates."
Despite those concerns, Mr Atkison found the laws were improving community safety as more children had their bail refused or were held in custody.
"The key takeaway was that the reforms were worthwhile and should be continued," he said.
The number of Indigenous children in prison fell, the report said, but a higher proportion of them were being punished under the laws than other juvenile cohorts.
"They are over-represented among those in a show cause situation and are over-represented among young people appearing before the courts for bail applications," Mr Atkinson wrote.
Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard said the report showed more serious repeat offenders were being held accountable for their actions.
"This review shows we've done just that - there has been a decrease in the proportion of serious recidivist offenders on bail, in line with the presumption against bail reform," she said in a statement.
The minister said the changes were cold comfort to victims, but they had impacted youth crime.
Mr Atkinson's report also noted a reduction in knife crime in parts of the Gold Coast where police wanding had been trialled as well as a fall in hooning offences.
