Collein Avery’s daughter, Melisa, now 44, has an IQ of 57, which places her in the lowest one per cent of the population.

Compounding her intellectual disability is a “very complex and challenging” set of behaviours, which includes anxiety and a lack of impulse control.

Mrs Avery said her daughter is well-practised in masking her disability, but has a string of shoplifting offences to her name as she has no concept that it is wrong.

More than a decade ago, Mrs Avery and her husband John faced the Toowoomba Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty on Melisa’s behalf.

The Mental Health Court eventually found Melisa permanently unfit to stand trial and in 2010, the Queensland Court of Appeal expunged Melisa’s criminal record and recommended legislative changes be made to grant magistrates the power to declare a defendant unfit to stand trial on summary matters.

Four years and two governments later, the Averys are still waiting for the Queensland Parliament to act.

On Tuesday, Mrs Avery once again met with Mr Bleijie and left with a flicker of hope.

“He certainly listened to us,” she said.

“That is not our first meeting with the Attorney-General – in the past, we haven’t felt that he was at all supportive of the recommendation in the appeals judgement, but I think the Mental Health Act review is a way forward.

“...Yesterday he did express some concern that if he wasn’t tough on crime, he would have to face people out in the community asking him these questions as well. But I think we need a little bit of moral leadership here for our most vulnerable people.

“At the moment the criminal justice system in Queensland prevents access to justice rather than facilitates it.  There are obstacles all along the line and we have experienced those ourselves.”

In a statement, Mr Bleijie said the government was focussed on ensuring Queenslanders had “equal access to justice”. But he made no commitments.

“The Government is currently reviewing the Mental Health Act and Collein’s advocacy ensured the issue of capacity for trial in the Magistrates Court formed part of the discussion paper, which closed only recently,” he said.

“I’m now working through the submissions with the Health Minister.”

Mrs Avery said she would continue fighting for as long as it took.

“I am resolved to achieving a fairer go for people who are quite voiceless,” she said.

“We are talking about people who have got really very severe cognitive impairment. It might be intellectual disability, it might be an acquired brain injury, it could be mental illness. But these people are voiceless, they can’t talk for themselves and I would really like the Attorney-General to speak up for them.”