Two leading human rights experts have labelled Queensland's youth justice system "incompatible with basic child rights," in a scathing assessment of a state which incarcerates more Indigenous children than any other jurisdiction in the country.
It comes as Queensland parliament is set to pass a second iteration of the LNP government's "adult crime, adult time" laws this week, which will include life sentences for children as young as ten for non-violent offences.
The legislation will disproportionately impact First Nations children, the LNP has admitted, and directly contradicts international and domestic human rights.
New amendments to the laws introduced last year - headlined by adult sentences for murder and manslaughter - will also curtail a child's right to protection from "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment" whilst being incarcerated. The new amendments will see a maximum of life imprisonment for arson - an offence against property - as well rape, attempted murder, torture, and sexual assault.
In an open letter, United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, Albert Barume, and UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Edwards, said they held grave concerns for the new changes and urged members of parliament to "vote against the bill".
"Many new or proposed state laws, including Queensland's Making Queensland Safer (Adult Crime, Adult Time) Amendment Bill, are incompatible with basic child rights," they said.
"If passed, the Queensland bill would result in additional adult penalties being applied to children for a wide range of offences.
"This would have an especially negative impact on the lives of indigenous children, who are already disproportionately represented in the criminal legal system."
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The Queensland government has previously criticised the UN for their condemnation of the state's new laws. Last month, Premier David Crisafulli said Parliament is "accountable to Queenslanders, not United Nations boffins".
"We stand up for Queenslanders, not unelected officials who are a long way from this place," he said.
Labor, which twice suspended the Human Rights Act whilst they were in power - to see children being allowed to be held in adult watch houses and to criminalise breaches of bail for young people - will support the amendments.
When introduced last month, youth justice minister, Laura Gerber, acknowledged in a Statement of Compatibility to the bill that it's likely "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will be impacted more by these amendments, due to their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system".
The Minister argued, however, that she was "satisfied that there is no direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of race" because "increased sentences will apply equally to all young offenders".
"The Government acknowledges that the proposed amendments are not consistent with international standards regarding the best interests of the child with respect to children in the justice system, and are therefore incompatible with human rights," she said.
Furthermore, Ms Gerber said the changes will mean more children will be held in adult watch houses for "extended" periods whilst accepting they are "not appropriate or humane places to detain children, particularly for any lengthy period of time".
At the time, First Nations Justice Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, Maggie Munn, said they wondered "how the Premier can sleep at night knowing he is condemning Queensland children to an unbelievably bleak future, especially when those children are predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids, and kids with a disability".
In their open letter, the two UN experts said, "the first goal should always be keeping children out of prison".
"We are extremely concerned that present approaches are creating a future underclass of Australians," the experts said.
"Juvenile facilities should prioritise education and rehabilitation to support childhood development. Criminal justice reform alone does not result in fewer anti-social or criminal behaviours."
In January, it was reported that the number of children aged 13 or under being housed in Queensland watch houses has increased by 50 per cent in the past 12 months. In 2023-24, 120 children aged 10-13 spent at least one night in an adult watch house—a 50 per cent increase from the year previous.
Children and young people aged 10-17 who spent more than four consecutive nights in a watch house rose from 640 to 675 in the same period.
The UN experts said a "child-centred approach that reflects international law and best practice" was needed, noting the age of criminal responsibility in Queensland and many states and territories was 10.
"This is younger than in most other industrialised countries."
They were critical of justice systems across the country, which have seen record Indigenous incarceration, noting "various criminal legal systems operating in Australia appear to be in crisis nationwide".
"Children are suffering undue harm to their safety and well-being, as well as to their educational and life prospects as a result of short-sighted approaches to youth criminality and detention," they said.
