[ad_1]
On Tuesday, Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner released a Report‘Help early!’, the report found Australia’s criminal justice system was failing to protect children’s rights.
Commissioner Anne Hollands based her findings on interviews with 150 children and young people who had experienced the system firsthand. The report made 24 recommendations, including banning solitary confinement for children across Australia and raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. Today, children as young as 10 can be detained in most of Australia.
The report found that Indigenous children and children with disabilities who have experienced intergenerational trauma are often criminally prosecuted. Many of these children are experiencing poverty, marginalization and systemic racism, but their basic needs, such as safe housing, are not met. Instead, they face incarceration.
The report also highlights that many detained children suffer from disabilities and mental illnesses, and that harsh conditions such as solitary confinement may exacerbate their conditions.
Previous reports, including Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disabilityRecommendations have also been made to ban solitary confinement and to raise the age of criminal responsibility. However, most Australian state and territory governments have yet to act on these recommendations.
last weekThe Victorian government has announced it is abandoning plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, saying it will only increase it from 10 to 12.
No jurisdiction Australia currently prohibits the use of solitary confinement for children. Solitary confinement is harmful to all prisoners, but Especially harmful Protecting children and people with disabilities. Closed and heavily monitored environments, lack of meaningful social contact, and the stress of lack of activity can exacerbate trauma and cause long-term, severe, and irreparable harm to children and people with disabilities. 2018Human Rights Watch found that people with disabilities are disproportionately held in solitary confinement in Australian prisons.
The commissioner’s report concluded that while criminal justice in Australia was primarily a state and territory responsibility, national leadership was essential. The report called on the federal government to develop a national children’s law alongside a Bill of Rights.
Abuse in the criminal justice system can be devastating and even fatal Impact on children. All Australian jurisdictions should respond promptly and decisively to the Commissioner’s recommendations.
[ad_2]
Source link
