The treatment of children as young as 10-years-old in the criminal justice system is one of the most urgent human rights issues facing Australia today, according to Australia's National Children's Commissioner.

Tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, "Help way earlier!': How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing," by Commissioner Anne Hollonds calls for the establishment of a national taskforce to reform child justice systems, as well as banning the use of solitary confinement, raising the age of criminal responsibility, and a cabinet minister for children.

"Tragically, by not addressing their [children's] human rights early on, and instead taking a punitive approach to their offending, we are essentially criminalising some of the most vulnerable children in Australia," the Commissioner said.

"Many are First Nations children dealing with intergenerational trauma and disadvantage, and children with disabilities, mental health issues, and learning problems. Many of these children and their families are living with poverty, marginalisation, and systemic racism."

The report details evidence from over 150 children - 67 per cent who are First Nations - who were interviewed, highlighting experiences of police brutality in youth detention, as well as poverty in out-of-home care.

"What I saw and heard is evidence of the most egregious breaches of human rights in this country. This includes the way that vulnerable children are treated in detention," Commissioner Hollonds said.

Of the 14- to 17-year-olds in youth detention, 23 per cent surveyed said they had attempted suicide at least once; 14 per cent said they had done so in the last 12 months.

Ashley (not her real name) said she had to pay for her own school tuition from year eight and couldn't afford a computer. After suffering from severe mental health issues, she blacked out after assaulting police.

"I woke up in a hospital bed and then I was taken to the watch house," she said. "I was then held in a watch house for a week and not told why and was very confused. I was just covered in bruises and carpet burns on my wrist and arms."

She said her previous experiences with police made her terrified of them.

"Once, I tried to take my own life, so someone called the police to help. But then one of the officers who was rough with me before was the one who showed up. He was just laughing and didn't help. That really traumatised me."

The report stated children in youth detention stated they'd been verbally abused, harassed, and experienced illegal searches carried out on them.

One 12-year-old was strip searched by police.

Many Aboriginal children and young people spoke of their experiences of being racially profiled by the police — some said they were "targeted from birth".

Commissioner Hollonds said for some children, "their most basic needs are not being met, such as a safe home to live in".

The report found many children who'd been in contact with the justice system were experiencing or living in poverty, and suffered mental health issues, had disabilities, and had experienced family violence.

A number had been through the child protection system.

It is the latest in a series of reports largely ignored by all levels of Australian governments.

Last week, Victoria abandoned plans, advocated by human rights, Indigenous and medical groups, to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

The Queensland government has made no apologies for locking up children as young as ten, arguing they are keeping the community safe. Youth detention in the state has seen Aboriginal children with mental disabilities held in isolation before leaving detention and committing suicide.

Despite the recommendations in the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and UN charters Australia has ratified, Queensland recently announced they would abandon detention as a last resort for children.

The ongoing inquest into the death of 16-year-old Yamatji boy Cleveland Dodd, who died in detention, has revealed a series of egregious faults made by the Justice Department in WA.

No evidence exists showing children being incarcerated at 10-years-of-age helps keep the community safe or rehabilitate the child.

"It is clear that, to date, we have approached offending by children the wrong way," Commissioner Hollonds said.

"We cannot 'police' our way out of this problem, and the evidence shows that locking up children does not make the community safer."