Amnesty International’s Youth Justice Campaign Kids Puts Australia Under New Pressure.

Last month, Amnesty International Australia launched its new ‘Kids Need Better’ campaign, aimed at promoting systematic youth justice reform in Australia.

Joined by child rights advocates Satara Uthayakumaran and Anne Hollonds, the campaign launch called attention to the institutional failures of Australia’s youth justice system, particularly with regards to the over-incarceration and criminalisation of First Nations children. This much-needed campaign also highlights Australia’s abysmally low age of criminal responsibility, and the continued use of harmful practices amounting to torture or cruel and degrading treatment.

Over the next four years, Amnesty International will be pushing for systemic reform to address the underlying causes of youth incarceration, ensuring that children are safe from human rights violations and are treated with dignity and respect. At a time when children’s rights in Australia’s youth justice system seem to be going backwards, with over 70% of Indigenous children in jail being unsentenced, as well as the reinstatement of abusive practices like spit hoods, advocacy is needed now more than ever to protect children in custody.

Anne Hollonds, former National Children’s Commissioner, and Kacey Teerman, Amnesty International Australia’s Indigenous Rights Campaigner, both compared Australia’s track record for youth justice with other international jurisdictions. Hollonds, for example, drew parallels between Australia and Finland, where the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 15. The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Australia is as low as 10 in some states, with the Northern Territory government having recently reversed its age of criminal responsibility from 12 years back down to 10. Teerman has also called out Australia’s failure to keep up with other countries, highlighting how countries such as Scotland have adopted ‘holistic approaches’ to youth justice that focus on prevention and early intervention, and urged Australia to do the same.

This campaign is also reinforced by recent research undertaken by Amnesty International Australia, which found that the Australian public is highly supportive of this kind of systematic reform. The survey found that the vast majority of Australians agree that police and prison staff should abide by minimum standards for the treatment of children in custody, and also agree that children’s rights must always be respected and that abuse in custody is never acceptable. Most Australians also agreed that community-led solutions connecting Indigenous youth to Country and culture foster a strong sense of belonging, social connection and meaning.

The public opinion is clear. Australians agree that kids in detention need better. Meaningful change and institutional reform are crucial to ensure that children in custody are protected and cared for. No Child in Solitary welcomes this campaign and urges the Australian government to take action.

Amnesty International Australia is calling on Australian governments to take immediate action by protecting all children’s human rights through enforceable national minimum standards across youth detention, raising the minimum age of imprisonment to at least 14 years across Australia, ending harmful and abusive practices in youth detention including solitary confinement, spit hoods and restraints, and ending the placement of children in adult watch houses and prisons. It is also calling for guaranteed access to education, healthcare, mental health support and meaningful family contact, alongside greater investment in First Nations community-led responses that support children early, prevent harm and keep communities safe.