Extract from ABC News
First Nations children made up nearly two-thirds of kids in detention last year. (ABC News)
A review of Australia's human rights record by the United Nations has heard "serious concerns" about its low age of criminal responsibility and rising incarceration rates.
The Human Rights Council review is carried out by UN member states every five years — and this is the first one to land since the Albanese government took office.
More than 120 countries made more than 350 recommendations.
One of the main themes? That many of the human rights concerns raised about Australia have a disproportionate impact on Indigenous people.
Here's what you need to know:
Countries criticised Australia for the age at which kids can go to prison
Forty countries urged Australia to raise the country's age of criminal responsibility, which remains at 10 years old in most states and territories.
Germany, for example, called on Australia to raise the age to at least 14 in every state and territory.
It said governments must "fully implement the Closing the Gap recommendations, while ensuring shared decision-making and genuine partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people".
The UN's Committee against Torture, which also gave evidence to the Council, criticised Australia's over-representation of Indigenous children and children with disabilities in youth detention, finding they were "frequently subjected to verbal abuse and racist remarks and restrained in ways that were potentially dangerous".
"Locked down for hours and hours": Jaxon explains what life is like inside a juvenile detention centre.
The committee singled out three detention centres — Banksia Hill in Western Australia, Don Dale in the Northern Territory, and Ashley Youth Detention Centre in Tasmania — for their continued use of solitary confinement.
First Nations advocates and legal groups have long called for the federal government to step in and raise the age of criminal responsibility nationally, arguing it could use its "external affairs powers" to uphold Australia's international human rights obligations.
The Committee against Torture also raised concerns about the use of spit hoods, which the Northern Territory government reinstated in youth detention last year — eight years after it was banned.
In response to the review, Australian Human Rights Commission President Hugh de Krester said Australia "must do better", particularly regarding the age of criminal responsibility.
"In most Australian jurisdictions, children as young as 10 can be arrested, prosecuted and jailed. This is inhumane and remains out of step with international human rights standards," he said in a statement.
"First Peoples are hit hardest by these unjust laws. The international community is calling us out on this."
Many called on Australia to reduce incarceration rates
Fifty-five countries raised concerns about Indigenous rights and treatment in the criminal justice system, which was a recurring theme.
India, for example, urged Australia to "identify the underlying causes of rising prison rates and look at non-custodial alternatives". Ireland also called for action on "ongoing barriers in access to and equity in education, housing and employment", which drive incarceration rates.
Activists have long rallied against Indigenous deaths in custody, which reached record levels last year. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)
In its submission, the Committee against Torture recommended that all deaths in custody should be "promptly, effectively and impartially investigated by an independent entity".
Last year, Australia recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody in four decades, surpassing 600 deaths since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
The Human Rights Council also heard evidence about the number of people held on remand across Australia's prison system.
The Committee against Torture noted a 16 per cent increase over 18 months, from June 2020 to December 2021, largely driven by the pre-trial detention of Indigenous peoples.
It said Australia's prison system had inadequate health and mental healthcare services, given the high rates of incarceration of people with a disability.
"Correctional institutions lacked appropriate capacity resources and infrastructure to manage serious mental health conditions," it said.
The federal government says criminal laws and policies are up to the states
In presenting Australia's report in Geneva, Kathryn Haigh, a first assistant secretary in the Attorney-General's Department, said the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice system was of "significant concern".
"Australian governments are working closely through the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the Justice Policy Partnership to address the underlying causes of the over-representation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system and reduce First Nations incarceration rates," she said.
But Ms Haigh reiterated that criminal laws and policies were for state and territory governments to decide.
Australia made five commitments in response to the review:
- Review the Disability Discrimination Act in accordance with royal commission recommendations
- Increase affordable housing for Indigenous peoples
- Deliver the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plan to end domestic and family violence
- Legislate the National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people
- Invest in dementia risk reduction and brain health
In a statement, a spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said her government took its international obligations "very seriously" and had spent $79 million over four years on justice reinvestment programs in First Nations communities.
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