The current state of the youth justice system in Australia raises significant concerns with alarming patterns of mistreatment and systematic failure according to leading human rights lawyers and Indigenous legal and policy experts.
The National Justice Project and the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research have outlined their concerns in a joint submission to the Senate Inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system.
National Justice Project CEO Adjunct Professor George Newhouse said incarceration of young people should not be seen as a last resort but one that we actively resist.
“We are witnessing prisons becoming the ad hoc response to youth in desperate need of more appropriate care and support,” he said.
“The system disproportionately affects First Nations youth with a pressing need for a transformative approach that prioritises the wellbeing and development of young people over punitive measures.”
The joint submission stresses while ensuring youth justice centres comply with legal and human rights standards is critical, true reform needs to go beyond facility improvements. The focus for youth justice must shift to community-led, preventative measures, especially for First Nations people.
Jumbunna Institute Director Professor Lindon Coombes said the Inquiry is a first step in addressing the historic and ongoing mistreatment of incarcerated young people, particularly First Nations youth in Australia.
“The overrepresentation of First Nations youth in detention is a clear issue, where the harm caused extends far beyond incarceration, perpetuating cycles of trauma and disadvantage across generations,” he said.
Read the joint submission here
A report from the Senate Inquiry is due to be completed and released by 1 July 2025.
Media coverage
- Parliamentary inquiry into youth justice and incarceration hears calls for system overhaul
National Indigenous Times, 10 October 2024
