The Bleak Picture of How Indigenous Youth Are Treated in Australia’s Justice System

• A recent Australian Productivity Commission report shows Indigenous youth remain heavily over-represented in the justice system, with no progress toward 2031 reduction targets.
• Indigenous children are 28 times more likely to be in detention than non-Indigenous peers, often spending long periods in unsentenced custody.
• Advocacy groups, including NATSILS and Amnesty International, are demanding urgent reforms, including raising the age of criminal responsibility and prioritizing Indigenous-led community solutions.

Justice System Disparities

• As of 2024-25, the rate of Indigenous youth in custody reached 25.7 per 10,000, with zero progress toward the 30% reduction goal set for 2031.
• Unsentenced detention averages 57.2 days for First Nations youth, with highs of 96.3 days in Queensland and 81.1 days in Victoria.
• The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has warned that this over-representation reflects systemic and structural racial discrimination.

Punitive Measures vs. Evidence

• Some regions, like the Northern Territory, have lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10 and reintroduced restrictive tools like spit hoods, which had been banned in 2017.
• The Australian Human Rights Commission's 'Help Way Earlier!' report highlights that 57% of children under justice supervision are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
• Many youth in the system face intersecting challenges including poverty, intergenerational trauma, homelessness, and neurodevelopmental disabilities; punitive detention costs AUD 1 million per child annually.

Proposed Reforms

• The 'Kids Need Better' campaign calls on the government to:
  • Raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.
  • Establish enforceable minimum standards for the treatment of children in custody.
  • Invest in Indigenous-led community solutions rather than punitive detention.
  • End the use of harmful restraint devices and practices.