Youth Justice Inquiry 4 Acknowledgements The Law Council of Australia is grateful to its National Human Rights Committee, Indigenous Legal Issues Committee and its Equal Opportunity Committee, as well as to the Law Society of New South Wales, the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian Bar and the Queensland Law Society for input and assistance in the preparation of this. [...] These include: the obligation on the Secretary of the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety to develop strategic partnership with Aboriginal communities and consult with representatives of the Aboriginal community on justice-related issues; the establishment of Aboriginal youth justice agencies; and the provision of additional measures for Aboriginal children and young persons at ev. [...] This concern was also echoed in the Productivity Commission’s first review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap released in early 2024.154 Now, nearing the end of 2024, the gulf between some state and territory ‘tough on crime’ policies and the commitment to change outlined in the Closing the Gap Agreement is widening. [...] The Law Council welcomes the establishment of the Commission and notes that it ‘will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people across a range of issues, including the over-representation of Indigenous children in out-of-home care’.164 156 Natalie Siegel-Brown and Selwyn Button, ‘A criminal reversa. [...] The assessment of this minimum depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the nature and context of the treatment, its duration, its physical or mental effects and, in some instances, the sex, age, state of health or other status of the victim.173 85.
Authors
- Pages
- 44
- Published in
- Australia
Table of Contents
- About the Law Council of Australia 4
- Acknowledgements 5
- Executive summary 6
- Addressing the Terms of Reference 9
- A—The outcomes and impacts of youth incarceration in jurisdictions across Australia 9
- Social Determinants 10
- Australian Capital Territory 11
- New South Wales 12
- Northern Territory 12
- Queensland 14
- South Australia 15
- Tasmania 16
- Victoria 16
- Western Australia 17
- B—The over-incarceration of First Nations children 19
- Prevention and early intervention over punishment 21
- Indigenous-led culturally competent solutions: diversionary programs to connect with culture and to move forward 22
- The National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the Justice Policy Partnership 24
- The role of the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People in Closing the Gap for child justice 26
- C—The degree of compliance and non-compliance by state, territory and federal prisons and detention centres with the human rights of children and young people in detention 28
- Brief Historical Context 28
- Contemporary Compliance 29
- Minimum age of criminal responsibility 29
- Treatment and conditions in youth detention 31
- Detention as a last resort 33
- Rule of law concerns 33
- D—The Commonwealth’s international obligations in regards to youth justice including the rights of the child, freedom from torture and civil rights 35
- The Responsibility Dilemma 35
- Detention Context—OPCAT 35
- Reservation to CRC 38
- E—The benefits and need for enforceable national minimum standards for youth justice consistent with our international obligations 39
- Minimum age of criminal responsibility 39
- Solitary confinement and other degrading treatment 40
- F—Justice consistent with our international obligations 42
- Third Optional Protocol to the CRC 42
- G—Related matters 43
