Children’s commissioner ignored on laws targeting kids
A county government’s treatment of children has gone backwards since a damning royal commission report almost nine years ago, an investigation has found.
Vulnerable children have been failed by successive Northern Territory governments, a leading youth justice advocate told a senate inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system on Tuesday.
“As the only Australian jurisdiction until recently to have had a royal commission into the treatment of children, the territory can be expected to achieve meaningful, real and transformational change,” NT Children’s Commissioner Shahleena Musk said. he said.
“Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.”
A royal commission into child detention in the NT was established by the Turnbull government in 2016 after the ABC broadcast shocking footage of abuse at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.
Former premier Michael Gunner apologized, describing the subsequent 2017 report as a “stain” on the NT.
But Ms. Musk said numerous legal and policy reforms since then continue to violate children’s rights and ignore evidence from experts, stakeholders and community leaders.
“Those most affected were not consulted,” he said.
This, he said, included Ms. Musk, who was not appointed as children’s commissioner and was not given the opportunity to advise on legislation.
He drew attention to the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10, the abolition of the principle of custody as a last resort, the restriction of access to diversionary programs and the removal of the saliva ban.
He also noted that the closure of the Alice Springs youth detention facility resulted in Indigenous children being transferred from their families, communities and Country to Darwin, 1,500 km away.
Children’s rights are protected under international law, but few are incorporated domestically and are therefore unenforceable, Ms. Musk said.
“This means that children’s rights can be, and often are, overlooked in the formulation of policies, drafting and implementation of laws,” he said.
Australia is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1990.
The Senate inquiry was announced following the deaths of two children in Western Australia youth detention within 12 months in October 2023, including 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd.
The Productivity Commission’s report on government services found spending on youth justice rose to $1.5 billion nationally in 2023/24.
The average cost of incarcerating a child is $3,320 per day; This corresponds to 1.2 million dollars per child per year.
Other state governments have responded to perceptions of a crime crisis with tougher laws targeting young offenders.
In Queensland, the Liberal National government has lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 10 as part of controversial “adult crime, adult time” laws.
Victoria has also implemented an “adult statute of limitations for violent crimes” legislation, which allows children as young as 14 to be tried in adult courts.
The NT attorney general’s comment was sought.
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