The Holidays Inside Australia’s Youth Justice System

The holiday season represents one of the biggest sources of joy that children around the world get to experience every year. The atmosphere of gift-giving, putting up decorations, and celebrating with loved ones is something that all children should be able to enjoy. But each year, there are countless children who are unable to participate in these activities, for various reasons such as financial hardship, abuse or neglect, or complicated family structures. A forgotten group, however, are children in detention.

During the holiday season, feelings of isolation from family and friends can be more heightened than normal. For children who already experience loneliness in detention, a time of the year that prioritises family gatherings and engagement with the community can be a difficult reminder of their separation from family.

There is plenty of evidence demonstrating that juvenile detention centres often fail to provide supportive and rehabilitative environments for the children being held in them. These inadequacies shouldn’t be experienced by these children at any time of the year, but during the holiday season it seems especially important that children are able to experience joy and positivity, even while in detention.

The failures of youth justice centres during the holiday period were highlighted in an article by a parent with a child in the Banksia Hill detention centre. The author recounted how they tried to make sure that her 16-year-old child would at least get some Christmas cards from family members while in detention, but he didn’t receive them in time. His Christmas dinner was a sad meal of salami, cheese and crackers.

The use of solitary confinement and isolation practices in juvenile detention centres is also antithetical to the spirit of the holiday season.

Children continue to be placed in 20-24 hour isolation across the country, at the same time that other children are enjoying the holidays with their families and friends. There are countless instances of children being held in solitary confinement over the holiday period, including Christmas Day itself, often in extremely sub-par conditions.

In a time where we all value togetherness and connection with family and friends, it’s important to think about the children who can’t participate in the joy of the holiday season.

 Juvenile detention is already a traumatic environment, and is further exacerbated by unnecessary solitary confinement and isolation practices. Children deserve to experience meaningful connection and happiness while in detention, especially during this time of year. Reform of the youth justice system is necessary to make this a reality.

In the new year, we hope that youth justice, particularly the elimination of solitary confinement practices, becomes a priority to ensure the wellbeing of children in detention, both during the holidays and all year round.