Queensland bill

Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026

QLDIn CommitteeMetadata only

Zoe only has APH summary and progress metadata for this Bill. Deep analysis is withheld until official Bill text or explanatory material is available.

Jurisdiction

Queensland

Making Date

2026-01-01

Collection

bill

Parliamentary Progress

IntroducedFirst ReadingSecond ReadingCommitteePassed HousePassed SenatePassed BothRoyal Assent

Plain English Summary

3/10 complexity

**What the bill does (mechanically)

Adds a new Division 1C to the Queensland Summary Offences Act 2005 that creates a specific criminal offence for burning an Australian flag in public in certain circumstances (Division 1C, ss 10F–10H).
Defines key terms: "Australian flag" (broadly: the Australian National Flag and flags that look similar even if colours, size or style vary), "Australian National flag", "Commonwealth Star" and "Southern Cross" (s 10F). The definition of "Australian National flag" points to the Commonwealth Flags Act 1953 for the formal description (s 10F).
States the objects of the new division as protecting the flag as a civic symbol and preventing flag-burning intended to provoke public disorder, intimidate, or cause significant offence (s 10G).
Creates the offence: a person must not, in a public place, burn an Australian flag in a way that a reasonable person would consider likely to (a) provoke public disorder, (b) intimidate any person, or (c) cause significant offence to members of the community (s 10H(1)). Penalty: up to 40 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment.
Lists non‑exhaustive factors that authorities (courts, prosecutors, police) may take into account when deciding whether the conduct meets the test (s 10H(2)). These include unlawfully taking the flag, defacing it, filming the burning, publishing images or video to social media, or cooperating with others who do those things.

Who it affects and how it matters

People who burn flags in public (including protesters and agitators): the act turns certain kinds of public flag-burning into a criminal offence where the conduct is likely to provoke disorder, intimidate, or cause significant offence (s 10H(1)).

JSON API

Have Your Say

This Bill is before Parliament. Pro members can share their view below. Comments are public and visible to anyone reading this page.

Loading comments…

Source excerpts

Direct links to excerpts of the current source text in Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026.

retrieval-0001

Document excerpt 1

Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026

Queensland Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026

Queensland Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026 Contents Page 1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 Insertion of new pt 2 div 1C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Division 1C Offence of burning Australian flag 10F Definitions for division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 10G Objects of division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 10H Burning Australian flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2026 A Bill for An Act to amend the Summary Offences Act 2005 for particular purposes

[s 1] Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026 Page 4 Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel The Parliament of Queensland enacts— 1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Act 2026. 2 Act amended This Act amends the Summary Offences Act 2005. 3 Insertion of new pt 2 div 1C Part 2— insert— Division 1C Offence of burning Australian flag 10F Definitions for division In this division— Australian flag— (a) means the Australian National flag; and (b) includes a flag that incorporates the Union Jack, Commonwealth Star and Southern Cross in a layout similar to that of the Australian National flag, regardless of any variation of colours, sizes or styles used in the Australian National flag. Australian National flag means the Australian National Flag under the Flags Act 1953 (Cwlth). Commonwealth Star means Commonwealth Star as described in the Flags Act 1953 (Cwlth), schedule 1, table A. 1 Clause 2 3 4 Clause 5 6 Clause 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

[s 3] Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026 Page 5 Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel Southern Cross means the Stars of the Southern Cross as described in the Flags Act 1953 (Cwlth), schedule 1, table B. 10G Objects of division The objects of this division are— (a) to protect the Australian National flag as a national symbol of shared civic significance; and (b) to stop agitators burning an Australian flag to provoke public disorder, intimidate persons or cause significant offence to the community. 10H Burning Australian flag (1) A person must not, in a public place, burn an Australian flag in a way that a reasonable person would consider likely to provoke public disorder, intimidate any person or cause significant offence to members of the community. Maximum penalty—40 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), in considering whether a person burns an Australian flag in a way mentioned in that subsection, regard may be had to the person doing any of the following— (a) unlawfully taking the flag from a person or place; (b) defacing the flag; (c) filming the burning of the flag; (d) publishing images or video of the burning flag to a social media platform or online social network; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

[s 3] Summary Offences (Protection of the Australian Flag) Amendment Bill 2026 Page 6 Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel (e) cooperating with another person who does anything mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d). 1 2

Source text

Sourced from Queensland Legislation (legislation.qld.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.