Community safety advocacy priorities
Community safety is one of the most important issues facing Cairns residents, businesses and visitors. It shapes how people experience our city, supports local business confidence and contributes to Cairns' reputation as a great place to live, work and visit.
While policing, youth justice, courts, corrections and many social support services are Queensland Government responsibilities, Council plays an important role in advocating for the investment, services and policy reforms needed to improve community safety across Cairns and Far North Queensland.
These priorities have been developed through consultation with CitySafe officers, service providers, state agencies, industry representatives and community stakeholders, providing a coordinated framework for Council's advocacy efforts.
Our Focus Areas
Council is calling on the Queensland Government to continue building on its significant investments in community safety and work with local communities to deliver practical, evidence-based solutions that make a lasting difference.
Our advocacy priorities focus on three key areas:
Reduce impacts on Cairns
- Post-release reintegration support is critical to reducing recidivism.
- Currently fragmented/under-resourced support framework upon release.
- Recent proactive efforts to return released prisoners to community has seen positive reductions in alcohol based anti-social incidents through May and June.
- Refocus scheme on its original intent – essential access, not travel patterns contributing to service pressure and anti-social behaviour in Cairns.
- Stricter eligibility terms (e.g. Travel subsidies denied if convicted of offence related to antisocial behaviour).
- Need to ensure any changes have no unintended consequences for those who are doing the right thing.
- Continued focus on support and investment in services and case management in remote communities.
- Increase place-based essential services in remote communities to reduce transience and justice system demand due to downstream impact on Cairns.
- Invest in community-based health/mental health/family support services and sustained case management.
- Program needs to be simplified by funding NGO’s to fully operationalise the program.
- NGO’s such as Anglicare have proven to be proactive and timely in getting people returned to remote communities quicker.
- Should the State Government proceed with a youth detention centre and/or remand centre in Far North Queensland, Council considers a site adjacent to the existing Lotus Glen Correctional Centre to be the most appropriate location, given the existing security infrastructure, operational efficiencies and separation from residential areas.
- Council calls on the State Government to amend the Liquor Act 1992 and associated regulations to widen the range of matters local governments may provide input on in liquor licensing decisions to strengthen the weight given to that input by the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation when making licensing decisions and improve the transparency and accountability of the decision-making process. In particular, the decision making process should clearly demonstrate and provide written response to the local governments on 9 how their feedback has been considered and whether and how that feedback influenced the final decision.
- Aligns with Council’s endorsed motion at the LGAQ 2026 conference.
Proactively manage the CBD
- CitySafe team have long observed that anti-social behaviour drops when police foot patrols are present
- Generates greater public confidence which flows on to business and visitors
- Recent operations in this regard have seen beneficial results – need ongoing commitment
- Call on the State Government to activate a Designated Business and Community Precinct in the Cairns CBD.
- Higher pressure program required to deal with illegal shopfronts – not one-off raids.
- Continue to shut down illegal shopfronts, proactively gather intel and shut down immediately.
- Permanent police presence needed in central location in CBD as opposed to current site at Lagoon.
- Important that some officer presence is maintained at the Lagoon beat however.
Strengthen social supports
- Consider two infrastructure streams: o capital (CCTV, lighting, security) o remediation (repairs, clean-up)
- Increase long-term investment in evidence-based early intervention, family support and prevention programs that address the underlying causes of youth offending, including child vulnerability and maltreatment, family dysfunction, domestic and family violence, disengagement from education, poor mental health, substance misuse and housing instability.
- Increased accommodation access/support for key cohorts requiring support including those impacted by Domestic Family Violence, rough sleepers, young people exiting residential care.
Last Updated: 28 October 2026
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