The Justice Reform Initiative has hailed the establishment of Australia's first nationwide inquiry into youth justice and incarceration as "a significant and welcome milestone in efforts to make child justice, safety, and well-being a national priority".
A motion from the Australian Greens calling for the inquiry was passed unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday the JRI said the move recognises "the urgent need for Commonwealth leadership to address Australia's failing youth justice systems".
Executive director Dr Mindy Sotiri welcomed the passage of the motion for a Senate Inquiry into Youth Justice and Incarceration, which will establish an inquiry into the outcomes and impacts of child incarceration across Australia, the over-incarceration of First Nations children, and the systems' treatment of the human rights of children in detention.
Importantly, the report, to be tabled by November 26, will for the first time examine the Commonwealth's international obligations in regard to youth justice.
"This nationwide inquiry is significant recognition by the Senate of the need for Commonwealth leadership," Dr Sotiri said.
"The treatment of children in detention is one of the most significant human rights issues facing Australia. Countless inquiries, reports, and media exposés into the state of youth justice in Australia have found that the rights of children in detention are not upheld. For decades, the states and territories charged with the administration of youth justice have failed to keep children safe.
"But the failure of youth justice is not just about the states and territories failure to uphold the rights of children in detention. It is about the failure of the states, the territories and the Commonwealth to address the social drivers of children's incarceration."
Dr Sotiri said is a national responsibility to ensure that there are systems, services and supports available to all Australian children who need help, and to ensure that the rights of the most vulnerable children are upheld.
"Too many children around Australia are managed in prisons, rather than receiving the support and care and opportunity they need in the community," she said.
The Justice Reform Initiative executive director congratulated the Greens on bringing the motion to the Senate and "driving systems change".
The announcement for the inquiry comes after the tabling in Federal Parliament last month of the National Children's Commissioners report 'Help way earlier!' How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing'.
The report outlines in detail the state of the justice system for children in Australia, and makes the case for reform that is based on evidence and human rights and also calls for child justice, safety and well-being to be made a national priority.
The report specifically calls for: the establishment of a National Taskforce for Child Justice Reform; the establishment of a National Cabinet Minister for Children; and the establishment of a Ministerial Council for Child Wellbeing, chaired by the Minister for Children and reporting to National Cabinet.
