Amnesty International is pleased to be partnering with The Australian Dream to promote the broader conversation this provocative film sparks about Australia’s relationship with racism. Equality, diversity and freedom are at the heart of Amnesty’s work. We stand for a world where everyone can live without discrimination, where all people are treated fairly, and everyone can make choices about their own lives.

Written by Stan Grant, The Australian Dream, is the powerful story of a shy country kid to two-time Brownlow medallist and Australian of the Year: Adam Goodes. Adam is an inspiration to many and a man who stands up for what he truly believes in. This film asks a very important question: what does it mean to be Australian? And Amnesty is asking, is it Australian to be locking up kids as young as 10?

As part of our ongoing Indigenous rights work, we’ve been shining a light on the over-representation of Indigenous kids in Australia’s youth prisons.

When an Indigenous child is 27 times more likely to be in the youth justice system than a non-Indigenous child; questions around racism must be asked and answered.

Part of the problem is the age kids can be locked up – across Australia, children as young as 10 are being charged, brought before a court, sentenced and locked up behind bars while tested community solutions are ignored.

Kids in prison are less likely to access what they need to grow up resilient, such as education, mentoring and community support. Health experts, social workers, Indigenous leaders and legal experts all have overwhelming evidence of the harm prison does – the very last thing we want for kids.

There is a solution: instead of putting kids this young behind bars, governments can fund tested Indigenous-led solutions and community programs which have better outcomes for children and communities.

We’ve seen some positive developments by governments, including the Queensland Government recently acting to help ensure kids are not held in police watch houses designed for adults, and significant investments into Indigenous-led prevention and diversion programs across the country.  

Now we need to ensure 10 - 13 year old kids aren’t in prison in the first place. Together we can make this happen. Will you add your name to our petition and call on all governments across Australia to raise the age kids can be locked up to at least 14 years old?