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Australia’s youth detention system is in crisis. Across the country, children as young as 10 are being locked away and subjected to spithoods, solitary confinement, police cages and being held in adult watch houses. 

These practices meet the UN definition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Torture is never acceptable. It is prohibited under international law in all circumstances, without exception. There is no public safety justification, no political justification and no operational justification for subjecting children to treatment that causes severe physical or psychological suffering. When governments allow this to occur, they are in breach of their most fundamental human rights obligations. 

Children have died in custody. These deaths are preventable.

Every day these systems continue to operate as they do, they put lives at risk. This treatment causes lasting harm to some of Australia’s most vulnerable children, many of whom are living with disability, trauma or are in out-of-home care.

Decades of evidence show that locking up children does not make communities safer. Punitive approaches entrench trauma and disadvantage, increase the likelihood of future contact with the justice system and cost taxpayers on average more than $1 million per child per year for a system that demonstrably fails children and communities.

Australia is not lacking evidence. It is lacking political will. The continued use of practices that amount to torture in youth detention is a policy choice, not an inevitability. There is a better way. Investing in supportive, evidence-based and community-led alternatives is safer, cheaper and far more effective at preventing harm and reducing reoffending.  

Amnesty International calls on Australian governments to meet their international human rights obligations and take immediate national action, including:

  • Establishing national minimum standards through a National Youth Justice Framework to end torture and all cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in youth detention.
  • Fully implementing OPCAT (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture), ensuring independent, transparent and regular monitoring of all places where children are deprived of their liberty, including youth detention centres and police watch houses. 
  • Upholding the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including:
    • Raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years across Australia. 
    • Ending all practices that amount to torture or ill-treatment, including solitary confinement, spit hoods and the detention of children in adult facilities. 
    • Guaranteeing access to education, health care, mental health support and meaningful family contact.
  • Legislating enforceable minimum standards so every child in detention is treated with dignity, safety and respect. 
  • Investing in community-based and Indigenous-led diversion and support programs that prevent harm and keep communities safer at a fraction of the cost of detention. 

No child in Australia should ever be subjected to torture.

The prohibition on torture is absolute. Governments must act now to end these practices, prevent further deaths, comply with international law, and replace a failing, harmful system with one that is safe, lawful, rehabilitative and effective. 

Sign now to demand action.

 

Sign the Petition

  Our Petition
 
 

Attorney-General of Australia

To the Attorney-General,

Australia’s youth detention system is in crisis. Across the country, children as young as 10 are being locked away and subjected to spit hoods, solitary confinement, police cages and detention in adult watch houses. These practices meet the United Nations definition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Torture is never acceptable. It is prohibited under international law in all circumstances, without exception. 

There is no public safety justification, political justification or operational justification for subjecting children to treatment that causes severe physical or psychological suffering. When governments allow this to occur, they are in breach of their most fundamental human rights obligations. 

Children have died in custody. These deaths are preventable.  

Every day these systems continue to operate as they do; they place children’s lives at risk. This treatment causes lasting harm to some of Australia’s most vulnerable children, many of whom are living with disability, have experienced trauma or are in out-of-home care.  

Decades of evidence show that locking up children does not make communities safer. Punitive approaches entrench trauma and disadvantage, increase the likelihood of future contact with the justice system and cost taxpayers on average more than $1 million per child per year for a system that demonstrably fails children and communities.  

Australia is not lacking evidence. It is lacking political will. The continued use of practices that amount to torture in youth detention is a policy choice, not an inevitability.  

There is a better way. Investing in supportive, evidence-based and community-led alternatives is safer, cheaper and far more effective at preventing harm and reducing reoffending. As the Commonwealth’s chief law officer, you have a critical role in ensuring Australia complies with its international human rights obligations.  
 
Amnesty International calls on the Federal Government to take immediate national leadership and action, including:  

  • Establishing national minimum standards through a National Youth Justice Framework to end torture and all cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in youth detention.  
  • Fully implementing OPCAT (the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture), ensuring independent, transparent and regular monitoring of all places where children are deprived of their liberty, including youth detention centres and police watch houses.  
  • Upholding the Convention on the Rights of the Child by: 
    • Raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years across Australia.  
    • Ending all practices that amount to torture or ill-treatment, including solitary confinement, spit hoods and the detention of children in adult facilities.  
    • Guaranteeing access to education, health care, mental health support and meaningful family contact.  
  • Legislating enforceable minimum standards so every child in detention is treated with dignity, safety and respect.  
  • Investing in community-based and Indigenous-led diversion and support programs that prevent harm and keep communities safer at a fraction of the cost of detention.  

No child in Australia should ever be subjected to torture. The prohibition on torture is absolute. Governments must act now to end these practices, prevent further deaths, comply with international law and replace a failing and harmful system with one that is safe, lawful, rehabilitative and effective. 

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]