Category Archives: Youth justice

Psychologist treating children in Cairns watch house warns of ‘horrendous’ and ‘inhumane’ conditions

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Exclusive: Government is failing to meet basic needs of youth in Queensland lockup, putting staff at ‘risk of harm’, psychologist alleges

A senior psychologist treating children in the Cairns police watch house sent a “cry for help” letter detailing “horrendous” conditions and alleged human rights abuses in the lockup, including claims young people are not being provided adequate food, medical attention or legal support.

The letter, seen by Guardian Australia, was sent to senior Queensland officials and several others on Monday by Andrea Bates, a psychologist with the Cairns court liaison service.

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Queensland government to moving to establish peak youth justice body as crime issues dominate

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Exclusive: Palaszczuk government expected to begin process of establishing peak body amid pressure to crack down on youth crime

Queensland is looking to establish a youth justice peak body as the issue threatens to become a major sore point for the Palaszczuk government ahead of next year’s election.

Guardian Australia understands the state government will launch a competitive tender process and seek expressions of interest from multiple organisations across the sector.

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Australia news live: devastation revealed in Queensland bushfire aftermath

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There is ‘a lot of anxiety’ in the Western Downs where at least 16 houses have been destroyed, the mayor says. Follow the day’s news live

Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden.

The plaintiff served years in prison that he otherwise would not have. At no stage did Victoria Police take positive steps to remedy its wrongdoing by expeditiously informing the plaintiff of Gobbo’s conduct in order to quash his conviction. Victoria Police has not apologised to the plaintiff.

Starting this court case is a significant moment for me. I am anxious about the future but also cautiously optimistic about finally holding police to account for what they did to me.

In the pursuit of justice, vindication came first, and now I see compensation as a measure of accountability.

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Locking up young people doesn’t create safer communities, Queensland children’s advocate says

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‘Compassion just dissipates’ among public when young victims of abuse become offenders, expert says

Locking up young people makes the community less safe, one of Queensland’s leading children’s advocates said, as police announced another crackdown on youth offenders in Cairns.

Guardian Australia reported on Monday that a significant number of alleged victims uncovered during a police investigation into the exploitation of vulnerable children in Cairns, are also the targets of a government crackdown on youth crime.

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Activists want NT to make spit hoods illegal after report found they were used on children 27 times

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Campaigners says case of child who may have lost consciousness while restrained in spit hood highlights need to legislate ban

The sibling of an Aboriginal man who died after being placed in a spit hood while detained in South Australia has criticised the Northern Territory government for refusing to legislate a ban as recommended by the territory’s ombudsman.

Northern Territory police have used spit hoods on children at least 27 times since 2016, in a move labelled “extraordinary” by the NT ombudsman last week.

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Queensland may face damages bill for unlawful detention of children in watch houses, lawyers say

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Dylan Voller’s solicitor argues new law retrospectively legalising practice could be successfully challenged

The Queensland government could still face a damages bill in the tens of millions of dollars, some lawyers say, despite retrospective legislation exempting it from liability for holding children in adult police watch houses.

Dylan Voller’s lawyer Peter O’Brien, the solicitor behind the class action against the Northern Territory’s Don Dale youth detention centre, said he believed the retrospective legislation could be challenged in court.

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Children unlawfully detained in Queensland’s police watch houses blocked from suing

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Law changes retroactively exempt government from litigation as Labor refuses to release legal advice used to justify rapid changes to Youth Justice Act

The Queensland government has refused to release key legal advice it used to justify urgent changes to the Youth Justice Act, amid criticism over its decision to retroactively prevent children from suing if they were detained unlawfully.

Defending the government’s hurried changes to the law, the deputy premier, Steven Miles, said the solicitor general had advised it could not delay amending the act – even for a few weeks – to accommodate scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

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Keeping kids in watch houses: why the Queensland government could change the law to suit itself

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Possible ‘robodebt’ scenario left Labor to either move the children or suspend the Human Rights Act – and it chose the latter

Queensland Labor MPs found out on Monday that they were expected to vote to suspend the state’s Human Rights Act, for a second time, to allow for the indefinite detention of children in adult police watch houses.

No one else seemed to have any warning. On Wednesday afternoon – on a particularly dreary day in state parliament – the police minister, Mark Ryan, tacked the law change on to an unrelated child safety bill, allowing it to pass through parliament the following day with no committee scrutiny.

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‘Farm animals with better legal protection’: Queensland’s new child watch house laws pilloried

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Palaszczuk government overriding state’s Human Rights Act to allow for imprisoning children as young as 10 in adult watch houses

Queensland’s human rights commissioner has accused the government of setting a “dangerous precedent” after it overrode the Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained at adult watch houses and prisons.

In a surprise move, the Palaszczuk government introduced legislation on Wednesday to allow it to imprison children in adult watch houses “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.

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‘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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