The Cost of Solitary Confinement: How Much Are We Paying For Injustice?

Millions of public dollars are spent each year on isolation practices in youth detention that damage children and entrench long-term failure.

Solitary confinement in youth detention is inarguably harmful, rights-violating, and ultimately ineffective. It’s damaging physical, psychological, and social impact on children has been repeatedly documented by youth justice experts and organisations around the world. Yet the consequences are not isolated to the children subjected to these practices. Every year, vast amounts of public money are spent maintaining isolation regimes that fail to improve safety or outcomes, leaving Australian taxpayers funding practices that cause harm rather than deliver solutions.

The Justice Reform Initiative reported in 2025 that Australia spends over $1 billion per year on youth incarceration, a figure that has increased from $908 million just a couple years ago, and nearly doubled since 2014-15.

There is a clear upward trend in funding into detention-based services, including the detention centres across the country which continue to use harmful isolation and separation practices. This increase in funding is coupled with persistently high rates of recidivism.

AIHW statistics show that of young people aged 10-16 in 2022-23 released from detention, 70% returned within 6 months, and 85% returned within 12 months.

It is obvious that youth detention and concurrent harmful isolation practices are ineffective in reducing youth crime. Yet the funding continues, and Australian taxpayers are made to foot the bill with no return on investment.

Alternatives to youth detention practices have been proven time after time to be far more cost-effective in reducing youth crime through addressing the underlying causes of criminal behaviour. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has also previously called on states to reduce reliance on detention, and commit to using it as a last resort. Alternative models that prioritise rehabilitation and therapeutic care, both inside and outside detention facilities have far lower rates of recidivism which translates to significant cost savings on youth justice. Community programs that emphasise culturally-appropriate services have been immensely effective in addressing the social determinants of youth crime and reducing reoffending, particularly among Indigenous youth. These programs don’t receive nearly as much funding as detention services yet have far higher success rates in reducing youth crime.

The current system is not working. Children in detention are being traumatised by violent practices and harsh environments that do not rehabilitate detainees but rather entrench a cycle of re-offending. The money being spent on these practices would be far better spent on alternatives that have been proven to address the drivers of youth crime and break cycles of recidivism and disadvantage, all without re-traumatising already vulnerable children.

This is why engagement with youth justice issues, including the use of solitary confinement in juvenile detention centres, is crucial. These issues involve all Australians, not just youth detainees and their families. We are all affected by the funding of inadequate and harmful practices with taxpayer money.

Our governments have a duty to use the funds available to them effectively and responsibly, and it is time that we held them accountable. We know what works and what doesn’t – Australia’s youth justice funding must follow suit.