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The state of Queensland’s youth justice system is alarming, with children held indefinitely in adult police watch houses and locked in solitary confinement for weeks in rooms without basic facilities like toilets or running water. These practices cause severe physical and psychological harm and, under UN standards, amount to torture.

Currently, Queensland locks up more children than any other state – 72% are First Nations, over a third have lived in unstable housing, more than half have experienced domestic and family violence, and almost all come from low-income households. Harm is greatest for the most vulnerable – Indigenous children, those in out-of-home care, and children with disability – for whom prolonged isolation and unsafe conditions are profoundly damaging.

The continued use of these practices demonstrates the Queensland Government’s contempt for international human rights standards and the rights of the child, including obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. We are calling for the Queensland government to immediately:

  • End the use of adult watch houses for children and all practices that amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
  • Uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years.
  • Ensure children in custody have access to education, health care, mental health support and meaningful family contact.
  • Invest in community‑based and Indigenous‑led diversion and support programs that prevent harm and keep communities safer.

Sign our petition and tell the Queensland Government to end cruel detention – keep kids out of solitary and police watch houses.

 

Sign the Petition

  Our Petition
 
 

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli 
Email: premier@ministerial.qld.gov.au 

To the Government of Queensland,

Right now kids are already being locked up in prisons that are far too young. Young kids belong in classrooms, not in prison cells. Our communities will be safer in the long term if support and diversion programs are properly funded. 

Putting kids in prison leads to compounding trauma and disadvantage, it fractures families and communities and removes children from their culture.  

Putting kids in jail cells does not change their behaviour or make our communities safer, instead it pushes them down a path that often leads to adult prison. 

There is an overwhelming amount of medical and psychological evidence that shows us children’s brains are still developing, especially the parts that regulate judgement, decision-making and impulse control. This means that kids cannot foresee the consequences of any action and cannot fully understand the criminal nature of their behaviour. Whether sentenced or unsentenced, children can not navigate the full weight of their actions and do not belong in prison. 

I’m calling on you to reduce the number of Indigenous children incarcerated and ensure their ongoing protection by committing to not lower the age of criminal responsibility to below 10, and instead, raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14, in line with international human rights standards.   

Recently, adult watch houses have been used by Queensland Police for the detention of young children. Thee watch houses are no place for kids and this practice of unsentenced detention deeply harms kids in the long term and must end. 

It is also critical for you to fund Indigenous led diversion programs that address the root causes of trauma and disadvantage, and uphold the principles of self-determination. These programs will cost less than putting kids in jail cells and keep our communities safer in the long run. 

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]