Category Archives: Youth justice

‘Absolute dog act’: Queensland Labor pilloried for shock move to override state’s Human Rights Act

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Proposed law changes include allowing children to be detained in adult watch houses for the next three years

The Queensland government has introduced legislation to allow it to imprison children in police watch houses for adults “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.

Police minister Mark Ryan introduced the amendment as part of a swathe of changes to an unrelated bill in state parliament this afternoon. It will require a suspension of the state Human Rights Act.

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Queensland man who says schools should reconsider the cane joins government’s youth justice group

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‘If the parents of kids aren’t able to exercise discipline … then the state needs to be disciplining these kids’, says victims’ advocate

On a Toowoomba Facebook group, frustrated residents share regular updates about vehicles stolen, shops robbed and homes burgled. Some post photos of children accused of crimes; the “bleeding hearts” are shouted down.

Amid the emotion, Ken Cunliffe calls for calm and for the community to focus on solutions rather than politics.

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Fix ‘endemic’ problems in youth custody, urges prisons watchdog

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Monitoring boards chief warns of poor conditions at four young offender institutions in England

A prisons watchdog has warned that poor conditions are “endemic” at four young offender institutions in England and urged ministers to take urgent action to improve them.

In her new role as the national chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs), Elisabeth Davies has taken the unusual step of writing a letter to the prisons minister, Damian Hinds, to raise serious concerns about the welfare of children in YOIs in England.

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Senior prison official’s court testimony at odds with government spin on Queensland youth detention

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For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, judges and children documenting problematic practices

In a Townsville courtroom last month, a senior manager at the Cleveland youth detention centre sat in the witness box to answer questions about the prison’s systematic use of solitary confinement.

For months, the state government has defended conditions inside Cleveland, in the face of accounts by guards, teachers, youth workers, court documents, judges and children documenting problematic practices.

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Federal budget on track to smash surplus forecasts as cash balance hits $19bn – as it happened

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Melbourne hit by magnitude 4.6 earthquake

Melburnians were shaken by a magnitude 4.6 earthquake at 1.32am.

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Children locked in cells for up to 23 hours at South Australia’s youth detention centre

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Child protection watchdog says distress at Kurlana Tapa caused by prolonged detention is leading to self-harm

Children are being locked in their cells for up to 23 consecutive hours partly due to staffing shortages at South Australia’s youth detention centre, with the system in crisis amid a spate of “shocking” self-harm incidents, the state’s guardian for young people says.

Shona Reid, the guardian and youth detention inspector, said children were becoming so distressed due to prolonged detention that they were harming themselves at the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre.

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Five hundred days in solitary: Queensland teenager’s case ‘a major failure of our system’

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Exclusive: Staff shortages at Cleveland youth detention centre led to teenager being confined to his cell for more than 20 hours a day

An Aboriginal teenager with an intellectual disability was likely locked in solitary confinement for more than 500 days at Queensland’s troubled Cleveland youth detention centre, in a situation described to a court as a “major failure in our system”.

Michael*, now 19, spent more than two years on remand at the Townsville centre while the children’s court dealt with charges related to a violent sexual attack on a 16-year-old girl.

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More than 60% of staff at Queensland detention centre quit amid record influx of young people

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Use of solitary confinement due to chronic staffing shortages at Cleveland detention centre has detrimental effect on children, advocates say

More than 60% of the workforce at the troubled Cleveland youth detention centre in north Queensland quit during the past three years, data obtained by Guardian Australia shows.

The figures supplied by the youth justice department show total staff numbers at the detention centre have declined since mid-2020, about the same time the state enacted laws designed to lock up more children.

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Police and crime researchers fear social media’s affect on crime in NSW and Victoria

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Data released in both states suggest online posts may have contributed to a rise in certain types of crime

Social media platforms allowing teenagers to brag about crimes might be contributing to an increase in youth offending in Australia’s most populous states, Victorian police and New South Wales’ crime statistics agency say.

In Victoria, data from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released on Thursday reported that home burglaries committed by 10-to-14-year-olds increased by almost 87% in the 12 months to 31 March, compared with the prior year. This is despite youth offending being down by almost half, compared with a decade ago.

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Innocent Queensland children pleading guilty to avoid harsh bail laws, lawyers say

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Many children on remand who may be exonerated or not sentenced are pleading guilty to escape long periods of detention

Young people in Queensland are pleading guilty to offences they did not commit – or where there is little evidence to support charges – to avoid spending extreme periods on remand in the state’s buckling youth justice system, lawyers say.

Queensland has the nation’s largest youth prison population, and recent data obtained by Guardian Australia reveals 88% of children in detention centres and police watch houses were being held unsentenced.

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Proportion of Aboriginal inmates in NSW hit a record 29.7% in February

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Exclusive: State Aboriginal Legal Service calls for end to ‘over-policing’ of Indigenous people

The proportion of Aboriginal people in prisons across New South Wales has reached an all-time high, prompting an urgent call from key groups for governments to end the “over-policing” of Indigenous communities.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) figures revealed Aboriginal people accounted for a record 29.7% of the state’s adult prison population in February, dipping slightly to 29.5% in March.

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Breaking the cycle: protesters demand solutions for youth detainees of Banksia Hill

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Advocates say system is broken and government needs to work with local community to support young people

They came to call for change.

Among the 700 protestors outside Western Australia’s Banksia Hill Juvenile detention centre on Sunday afternoon was Lee-Anne Mason.

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Facebook blocks Rockhampton mob leader as Queensland MP prepares to meet with him

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Indigenous community says the plan to meet with Torin O’Brien only legitimises his offensive views

First Nations people in central Queensland say the state government is inflaming local tensions by pushing ahead with plans to meet with the former leader of a far-right “patriots” group, who was booted off Facebook after leading a mob to surround the Rockhampton home of an Indigenous teenager.

Guardian Australia on Tuesday revealed that the ringleader of the group, Torin O’Brien, is the former president of a group that regularly posted offensive anti-Islam content online.

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Palaszczuk and criminologists reject calls for serious youth offenders to be treated as adults

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Experts say incarceration only increases risk of offending after Queensland police union president’s comments

Annastacia Palaszczuk and criminologists have rebuffed a call by Queensland’s police union president for serious youth offenders to be treated as adults, after three women were killed in a crash in Maryborough.

A 13-year-old boy is facing three charges of dangerous driving causing death after allegedly stealing a Mercedes from a Maryborough home at 10.45pm on Sunday.

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‘Very kind and sweet natured’: teenage girl among three killed in Maryborough crash, as boy, 13, is charged

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Paramedics attending crash scene recognised nurse who was killed while on her way home from work

A Queensland MP has paid tribute to one of his former students who was killed in a multi-vehicle crash that saw a 13-year-old boy charged with three deaths.

Two women and a 17-year-old girl died, while another woman was in a critical condition in hospital, after the three-car crash in Maryborough at about 10.45pm on Sunday.

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

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Raising age of criminal responsibility to 12 ‘falls short’ of First Nations’ expectations, Victorian attorney general admits

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Jaclyn Symes urges other jurisdictions to follow state after announcing ‘staged approach’ to ensure support services are in place

Victoria’s attorney general has acknowledged that plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 “falls short” of expectations from First Nations groups but described the move as a “first step” and urged other states to follow suit.

Jaclyn Symes confirmed the government will introduce legislation later this year to raise the age from 10 to 12, with no exceptions, which will come into effect in late 2024. It will then be increased to 14 by 2027.

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Off-duty Queensland police officer filmed head-butting 14-year-old Indigenous boy

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Youth involved in late-night altercation in Dalby says he feels he was targeted because of the colour of his skin

An off-duty police constable has been filmed head-butting a 14-year-old Indigenous teenager in the face in a late-night altercation outside a McDonald’s in regional Queensland.

The state’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, said an Ethical Standards Command investigation has been launched, describing the officer’s actions as “inappropriate”.

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Queensland passes controversial youth crime laws after heated human rights debate

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New laws include the overriding of the Human Rights Act to allow children to be charged for breaching bail

The Queensland government’s controversial youth crime laws have been passed in parliament despite strong opposition by human rights advocates and experts who warn they are ineffective and will result in more children incarcerated.

The laws include overriding the state’s Human Rights Act to make breach of bail an offence for children. They will also expand an electronic monitoring trial for children as young as 15 and provide additional funding of $9m to assist victims of crime.

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‘Recipe for disaster’: Queensland bail law that overrides children’s human rights won’t work, experts say

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Legal groups also criticise the push to override the state’s Human Rights Act to create the offence

Experts say there is zero evidence to support Annastacia Palaszczuk’s controversial decision to pursue criminal charges against Queensland children who breach bail.

Human rights organisations have also delivered scathing criticisms of the government’s bid to override the state’s Human Rights Act to legislate the offence for children, warning that it likely won’t reduce offending.

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Bodies of missing men found – as it happened

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Where the parties stand

So the Greens are pushing hard against new coal and gas but have not indicated they are willing to kill off the legislation.

We’re willing to negotiate on everything that we consider will be in keeping with our government’s approach and our election mandate. Nothing more, nothing less. We went to the people seeking a mandate. That’s what we will implement.

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