Do 'adult crime, adult time' laws make a difference? They're about to come to a second state

As Victoria prepares to introduce its version of Queensland's 'adult crime, adult time' laws on Friday, A Current Affair investigates if locking up kids for longer actually works.

It was an election promise that helped Queensland Premier David Crisafulli sail into power.

The state had just seen a spate of appalling youth crime cases, with protesters taking to the streets to demand tougher penalties.

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"You're never going to eliminate crime but you have to reduce the prospect of someone being the next victim of it," Premier Crisafulli said.

Benjamin Cant is a prime example of why 'adult crime, adult time' laws were introduced.

He was viciously attacked two years ago by a pair of teenagers he didn't know.

The boys, aged 16 and 14 at the time, took turns to stomp on Benjamin's head.

He suffered six broken ribs, a punctured lung, damaged aorta, fractured thyroid cartilage from throttling and multiple broken facial features.

Benjamin's mother, Ella Wilesmith, can't believe her son survived the attack.

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"They also left him there unconscious, lying there covered in blood," Wilesmith said.

"They took his clothes, they videoed him, they went home, they edited that video, set it to music and uploaded it to social media."

The elder of the two teenagers fled to New Zealand and has never been arrested.

The 14-year-old assailant pleaded guilty to deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm and was sentenced in the Ipswich District Court to five years in detention but required to serve just 2.5 years.

He'll be free in October.

"Two and a half years for taking a full life away from someone else is absolutely offensive," Ella said.

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Benjamin Cant's case was dealt with before 'adult crime adult time' laws came into effect.

The judge said he would have handed down a longer sentence if they could have been applied.

But are remarks like that having an effect on teenagers? Have the laws deterred young people from committing crimes in Queensland?

Premier Crisafulli believes they have.

The total number of victims have fallen by 7.2 per cent since the laws came into existence.

Robbery victims are down 16 per cent and car theft is also down by 3.2 per cent.

"We're certainly not claiming the job is done in Queensland. We've only started to take the first few steps, but it's heading in the right direction and that's pretty satisfying," Premier Crisafulli said.

David Heilpern, who spent two decades as a magistrate deciding the fate of thousands of young offenders, says locking people up for longer when they are children has never been shown to make the community safer.

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"The incarceration rate is increasing and youth crime is just continuing on the same path," Heilpern said.

"Unless they can prove some causative relationship between adult crime, adult time and the crime rate then it's failing and there's just no such evidence."

Those working to rehabilitate young offenders believe there's a better solution than throwing children in jail.

Joseph Te Puni-Fromont runs E-Suave - a not-for-profit organisation on the Gold Coast helping young offenders break the cycle of criminal behaviour.

"I appreciate the government trying to do something. But if they're strong on that stance, they also have to be super strong on balancing that out by early intervention." Joseph said.

Te Puni-Fromont believes the threat of an increased jail sentence is not a deterrent.

"I don't think they have the capacity within their developed brain to truly understand the consequences that come with the choices that they're making in the moment."

Victims, offenders and leaders agree - early intervention is a critical part of the solution.

"Reach these kids before they offend," Wilesmith said.

"Take them into detention centres as they're approaching adulthood, take them into a jail."

"Governments need to get brave, get tough on crime, and by that I don't mean lock more people up," former magistrate Heilpern said.

"Start selling the truth, which is we're going to solve this by taking a longer approach."

To watch the full investigation, click on the video player above.